Fiona Gregory Therapy

15/06/2025

BBC Tiny Happy People

means a lot of different things to different people ❤️

Remember to reach out if you're struggling

11/06/2025

Photo Credit: unknown

09/06/2025

Primal Trust Academy & Community with Dr. Cathleen King

The body doesn’t know the difference between a real threat and a thought that feels threatening. That’s why a single memory, worry, or inner dialogue can send your system into survival mode.

But the good news is this: your brain is changeable. The same thoughts that once triggered a stress response can be gently rewired to create a sense of safety, peace, and even joy in the body. That’s not wishful thinking. That’s neuroplasticity in action.

This is how healing begins. Not by avoiding triggers or pretending everything is fine, but by teaching the brain and body a new story. One where it’s safe to relax. Safe to feel. Safe to be here.

05/06/2025

EMDR Chicago Paula Merucci thanks for this useful summary 🙏🏻

🌀 Feeling Detached? Understanding Depersonalisation & Derealisation

The BMJ article, Depersonalisation and Derealisation: Assessment and Management, offers clinicians a comprehensive guide to recognizing and treating these often misunderstood symptoms.

🔍 Key takeaways:
Symptoms: Patients may describe experiences like “it’s as if I’m watching myself from outside” or “the world feels unreal.”
Triggers: Often linked to stress, anxiety, or trauma.
Prevalence: Transient episodes are common; however, persistent symptoms may indicate a primary disorder.
Management: Emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between transient symptoms and chronic conditions, with referrals to specialists when necessary.

📄 Read the full article here: https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.j745

21/05/2025

Family court hurts

20/05/2025

Frank Anderson, MD

We usually think of triggers as something to manage, avoid, or get past.

But what if your trigger is actually pointing to a part of you that still feels unsafe? Instead of pushing it away, what if you got curious and asked: what part of me is speaking right now? What is it afraid of? What does it need?

A trigger doesn’t mean you’re failing.

It means something inside you is asking to be seen.

Healing begins when we meet those moments - not with judgment, but with compassion and curiosity.

13/05/2025

02/05/2025

Mastin Kipp

19/04/2025

Janina Fisher Ph.D.

Sensorimotor psychotherapy allows client and therapist to work with very early preverbal interactions at the level of muscle and autonomic memory. The experience of being able to explore empowering actions in the context of attuned interactive psychobiological regulation is not unlike the experience of securely attached young children. In Sensorimotor work, however, the client is encouraged to become a mindful witness as the process unfolds and inner experience is mentalized and verbalized.

As Mariela was able to notice her bodily and emotional reactions as they unfolded – rather than retrospectively – she was able to inhibit explosive responses and relax the body in relationships. Practicing her new movements and somatic resources, both inside and outside of therapy, helped her develop alternatives when dysregulated by attachment hopes and fears.

Eventually, her ability to stay present in the context of emotion allowed her to witness being witnessed by her therapist and by those she loved. ‘Hijacked’ by the body memories of abandonment and threat, Mariela hadn’t ever been able to take in the experience of being ‘seen’ and valued by others in her life. Witnessing their witnessing began to challenge her shame and sense of defectiveness.

Mariela has discovered that the experience of safety in relationship is as much a body experience as it is an emotional one. When arousal is within the window of tolerance, when the body feels both solid and relaxed, when we can mentalize, and when we can tolerate a gamut of emotions without feeling either overwhelmed or numb, we know we are finally ‘safe.’

Want to learn more? Read my full ebook on my website, Attachment as a Sensorimotor Experience:
The Use of Sensorimotor Pyschotherapy. https://janinafisher.com/resources/webinars/attachment-as-a-sensorimotor-experience-the-use-of-sensorimotor-psychotherapy/

11/04/2025

Janina Fisher Ph.D.

Survival is a testament to the strength of the nervous system, not a failure of character. Healing is not about changing who you are – it’s about reconnecting with the parts of you that adapted to overwhelming experiences. The same inner wisdom that helped you endure can now guide your recovery.

31/03/2025

CPTSD Foundation


What is triggering …

"In contrast to ordinary memories both good and bad, which are mutable and dynamically changing over time, traumatic memories are fixed and static.

They're imprints, engrams from past overwhelming experiences. Deep impressions carved into the sufferer's brain body and psyche.

These harsh and frozen imprints do not yield to change, nor do they readily update with current information. The fixity of imprints prevents us from forming new strategies and extracting new meanings."

Nevertheless, while trauma can create rigid patterns, healing is also possible. Therapeutic approaches such as EMDR, cognitive processing therapy, and mindfulness can help the brain integrate these memories in new ways. Through guided support, self-reflection, and intentional practice, even the most deeply ingrained imprints can be softened, updated, and transformed, allowing for growth, resilience, and a renewed sense of possibility. – Peter. A. Levine