Finding Freedom Therapy, PLLC

If you are struggling after the tragic events in Uvalde, TX today, please reach out to us or to another therapist or mental health provider. We are here to help.

FindingFreedomTherapy.com
972-674-9166

I love this more than I can express!

Be you!!!! Our differences make us stronger together!

Yup.

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When we understand how our past traumas impact our relationship with our children, we create an opportunity to stop transgenerational trauma from being passed down. What greater gift can you give to your children than this?

Mother's Day is such an important holiday to honor the love and sacrifice that so many incredible mothers make for their children. But for some, Mother's Day is a difficult holiday. For those who have lost a child or a mother, today may be filled with grief. For those who have beautiful children but have also survived miscarry or fetal demise, today can feel confusing. For those who have tried for years to conceive, but have struggled with fertility issues or never had the opportunity to have children, today can feel heartbreaking. For those who didn't grow up with a mother, or who had an abusive mother, today can be triggering. So be kind and leave space for all the emotions today, from pure joy to sadness, because they are all important.

If you can relate to this, try finding one or two people whom you can trust and start slowly allowing them to be there for you. Ease into mutually beneficial, healthy relationships.

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After experiencing trauma or grief, it is understandable and natural to find yourself in a dark place. You need time to grieve and heal. But when you get stuck in those dark places and can't find a way out, therapy can provide the knowledge and can help light your way back.

"There's something wrong with me for being such a mess." "I shouldn't be sleeping this much." "I shouldn't still be crying all the time." "I shouldn't feel numb." "Other people are stronger than I am because they heal faster." "I should be able to function by now." 

These self-shaming thoughts only add to the pain. When we have lost someone we love, we need to grieve. Grief is natural and healthy.... and different for everyone. Allow yourself some grace as you go through this process. You won't experience it the same as anyone else. So please stop self-shaming and allow space to grieve and heal.

💔

There is no love like that of a parent, and there is no loss like that of a parent.

So helpful!

As a yoga instructor, I often encourage students to sink in to their bodies. As a trauma therapist, I know that many trauma survivors find that incredibly triggering.
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The best way to start a mindfulness practice when disassociation has been your coping strategy, is to ground yourself in the present moment. You can take a walk and narrate it to yourself, “I see a woman walking her dog, I hear cars driving on the road, It smells like rain, I see a park up ahead, I feel the heat of the sun,” etc.
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Once you feel comfortable grounding yourself in the present, then you can begin introducing body mindfulness starting with exercises that feel safe and neutral until you get more comfortable being in and with your body.
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Trauma not only affects a person's mental and emotional wellness, but also their physical wellness.
Remember there is help with trained professionals!

It's quite natural to both love and be frustrated with your family members. Our families may have nurtured us (if we were lucky), but they're also the places where we all tend to have some lingering wounds. If you feel like you struggle more than you'd like to when you return home, then therapy may be an excellent opportunity to work through those wounds in order to improve (or distance) your relationships, and so those wounds do not continue to be passed down from generation to generation.

 

In life there will inevitably be struggles, but they do not have to break us. In fact, they are the exact things that can make us stronger. After hardship, loss, or even trauma, we can do so much more than heal. We have the opportunity to grow and become even more resilient and more capable to face anything that may come.

Very helpful!

New Poster: Polyvagal Theory Simplified

Clarification: The names we commonly use for the 3 ANS states (safe mode, shutdown, fight/flight) only apply to those circuits when they are engaged at a high level. That why each of the 3 dials are shown turned up high. The dials do not represent overall nervous system activation but rather the activation of each of these neural circuits.

A healthy nervous system is able to use all 3 circuits at all levels without getting “stuck.” I plan to share an image in the near future that illustrates how these circuits have very different functions in low tone or mixed states.

👉 Read more about the nervous system: Linktr.ee/TraumaGeek

🌠 This work is made possible by patron members at www.patreon.com/TraumaGeek

📚Printables for professionals can be purchased at TraumaGeek.com/infographics

🧠 If you'd like to chat with me and learn about polyvagal theory and the nervous system or the neurodiversity paradigm, you can schedule a time here: www.calendly.com/TraumaGeek

I love that she hits on engaging your Ventral Vegus system in order to relieve the stress and interrupt the stress cycle!

Let's learn about the stress cycle! 😎



🐅 “Anything can be a tiger” means our bodies will act to protect us even if there’s not a real tiger. Our neuroception has evolved beyond noticing lions and tigers and bears to sensing more subtle threats and dangers in our world.

📎 Sources include Stephen Porges, Deb Dana, Pete Walker, Bessel van der Kolk, Stanley Rosenberg, Dr. Arielle Schwartz, and The Polyvagal Podcast

🤓 Read more about polyvagal theory and the stress cycle at medium.com/@autietraumageek

👨‍⚕️A print version for educational or professional use is available at traumageek.squarespace.com

It's often incorrectly assumed that we have to always be on and always be strong. Let's be honest....that's not possible. If we want to be okay and to succeed, we have to take breaks. We have to set down our load sometimes, or allow others to carry it for us for a moment while we take a moment to breathe.

Take off the "strong" armor, it's ok to be vulnerable and seek out support.
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Image via Stacie Swift

Tap into the parts of them that are left behind in you.

This is an important reminder that trauma can be treated. We can learn to heal and grow rather than pass it down through families or spread it through our societies.

Beautifully true

Exactly!

FYI: You are not defined by the trauma you've experienced, it didn't happen to teach you a lesson, and you didn't deserve it.
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Image via GMF Designs

Lily the Wonder dog! Saving lives through Animal Assisted Therapy and love! ❤️

I know many people who would benefit from heading this.

People not being able to bear witness to your trauma is not a reflection of their care for you. It is a reflection of their own experiences or lack thereof. Trauma is a scary thing for someone to wrap their head around. Some people subconsciously revert to minimizing trauma ironically enough because they love you and they don't want to believe something so horrendous could have happened. Other times, people may distance themselves because they're unable to deny what you've been through and it's too scary for them to accept. There are many reasons people struggle to be supportive of those who've experienced trauma or tragedy. But, that is not a reflection of you or what you've been through. There are people who can and will support you as you heal.

Truth!

Tonight, you need to relax...

After over a decade of treating PTSD I have realized that nightmares can actually be very helpful in guiding us to our most wounded parts. I always tell my clients to pay attention to how they felt and what the theme was because the content is most often not accurate.

PTSD nightmares aren't always exact replays...

We would like to take a moment to introduce our newest clinician at FFT, Mark Chapman!!

He has incredible experience in addition to being warm and kind in his approach. Please take a moment to read a little bit about him.

It takes a lot of courage to start therapy, and even more to stay in therapy. Especially when you're doing trauma work. When it gets the hardest, that's normally the indicator that we're on the right path and you're almost there. Don't give up.

A good friend shared this with me today and I can't express how accurate it is. We don't become strong when things go well. We become strong when we handle all the things that go wrong.

Happy International Women's Day to all of the incredible, powerful, and vulnerable women I have been blessed to know!

I love whoever created this. Funny and true.

The person who was kind enough to share this with me said that this quote changed her life and helped pull her out of a dark place after a significant and tragic loss.

This is not saying do not grieve. This is not even saying do not be sad or in dark places at times in your grief. It is simply saying that we can choose to keep our loved one alive within us. In our hearts and through our stories about them that we share with others.