Lynn Baxter and Associates Psychotherapy

04/25/2026

04/25/2026

Trauma literally disrupts the brain regions responsible for memory. When your nervous system detects threat, the hippocampuse way downshifts and the amygdala takes over, prioritizing survival over storing details.

Days blur together, time distorts, conversations fade. This is why traumatic periods often feel like missing chapters. Depression also alters cognitive functioning. When dopamine and serotonin levels drop, focus, recall, and executive function all decline. You walk into rooms and forget why, reread sentences, lose track of tasks, not because you're unmotivated, but because your brain is trying to conserve energy.

This "mental fog" is a symptom of neurological overwhelm, not a character flaw. Healing restores memory because it restores regulation. As your nervous system calms, the hippocampus reactivates, cognitive clarity returns, and your brain begins processing experiences normally again.

You start to think clearly, remember details, and feel present instead of dissociated. It's one of the strongest indicators that your system is moving from survival to safety. –
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If you're a complex trauma survivor looking to unlock new paths to healing while exploring your creative side in a safe and supportive community, you are welcome to join our Weekly Creative Group!

This survivor-centered program can help to participants to regulate difficult emotions, process their childhood memories, and reclaim their internal narrative.

Start your creative healing journey today:
When: Sundays, 6 PM EST
Where: https://cptsdfoundation.org/weekly-creative.group/

04/25/2026

It’s easy to believe that parenting is about correcting behavior.

What to say.
What to do.
How to respond when something goes “wrong.”

And at the same time,
there’s something deeper shaping those moments.

Children don’t just learn from what we tell them.

They grow from what they experience—
feeling safe, supported, and understood as they move through challenges.

Because when the environment around them feels steady and connected,
they’re able to explore who they are and what they’re capable of becoming.

Growth doesn’t come from control—it grows from connection.

If you’d like support creating this kind of environment at home,
you can explore free tools, resources, and guidance here:
bit.ly/free-GENM-Resources

04/25/2026

01/15/2026

When distressing events unfold, it’s common to feel shock, sadness, or helplessness. Psychological research shows that trauma can have both immediate and lasting effects—and that repeated exposure to upsetting news can also take a toll on mental health, even from afar.

Learn more: https://at.apa.org/m0x

01/15/2026

What therapy is and what it is not....to clear up misinformation and dispell misconceptions regarding therapy....therapy is not akin to a paid "friend" ...it is not remotely comparable to "self help ". Therapists or psychotherapists more specifically are highly trained and highly educated professionals who engage in scientifically upheld techniques, approaches and research based and evidence based modalities with their client to effect change . To equate therapy to oaid connection or friendship is incredibly inaccurate and needs to be curtailed...these comments and perspectives come from uneducated and misleading sources.

01/06/2026

Make an effort to know more so you can be a valued support.

01/06/2026

This is a great article and very true. It is also a form of bullying.

Neglect can be healed, and self-blame reduced.

01/06/2026

Excellent!

This image illustrates how emotional regulation, social understanding, and cognitive abilities develop in early childhood, roughly from birth to five years of age. In the first year of life, emotional experience is largely sensory and immediate. Infants show basic responses such as visual attention, social smiling, and surprise, while regulation of unpleasant emotions is mostly external, relying on caregivers. Early coping strategies are simple, such as turning away from discomfort or using transitional objects like toys. As short-term memory and attention develop toward the end of the first year, children begin social referencing, meaning they look to caregivers’ emotional reactions to understand how to respond to unfamiliar situations.

Between one and three years of age, there is rapid growth in emotional complexity and social interaction. Children begin to distinguish themselves from others and show early mentalization, the ability to recognize that other people have separate perspectives. Fear responses become more organized, including separation anxiety and avoidance behaviors. During this period, symbolic play and fantasizing emerge, allowing children to express emotions through roles and imagination. The amygdala remains highly active, while frontal brain regions are still immature, so emotional reactions are strong and regulation is limited.

From around three to five years of age, higher cognitive and social capacities expand significantly. The child develops early self-awareness, moral emotions such as pride, shame, and remorse, and a basic theory of mind, understanding that others have independent thoughts and feelings. Functional connectivity between the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, and prefrontal regions increases, supporting better self-regulation of unpleasant emotions. Children begin adopting social norms and rules and can consciously suppress or modulate emotional expression. By this stage, emotions are no longer only reactions to the present moment but can be triggered by memories, expectations, and internal thoughts, reflecting a more mature and integrated emotional brain.

Reference: Lewis and Granic (2010)

01/06/2026

When negative emotions take over, and your reactive brain overwhelms your thinking brain, it can be hard to stay in control.
However, staying calm helps your brain function better and allows life to run more smoothly.
To be your best and maintain balance, our brain, body, and heart must work together in harmony.

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