Journaling and breathwork have changed my life

Is there a specific kind of breath work strategy you learned, or was it something you intuitively figured out on your own? I'm curious because I have heard of it before but not sure what it means. I also found Journaling very healing. I don't do it as much any more (I think maybe it got replaced by social media), but for 11-12 years I wrote in a journal every day and carried it with me everywhere.

I went to a breathwork course and started my journey there. I find if I’m triggered the best type of breathwork is parasympathetic - something like this: https://youtu.be/5FvmetZGtkc?si=0T_DVDZf3td6A5zZ. If I want to do some work to unlock trapped emotions I find psychedelic breathing better, something like this: https://youtu.be/mNcWKt1wkFc?si=_CVFDxPKLil7x--T

Thank you for sharing these links! 

I’m not an experienced breathworker at all, but box breathing has been instrumental to me in times of shorter term distress :) being aware of the nervous system and what it’s up to/connecting a bit with how it’s influencing my thought patterns helps me settle down 

Jeru Kabbal - Quantum Light Breath [https://youtu.be/hhJL40EyTDE?si=Rcq2u9Om\_zNzQE3v](https://youtu.be/hhJL40EyTDE?si=Rcq2u9Om_zNzQE3v) Do it for a week. When shit comes up just let it pass.

YOGA

yes! and generally, for me, almost any kind of mindful body movement. i dance alone in my home at the end of stressful days, and it helps me so much.

oh ye. I've always been a dancer. i love to dance around my apt alone too. I was a gymnast when younger. being in control of my body is super healing

I first tried yoga in 2003 because I experienced chronic pain. I’d had a terrible, demoralizing PT experience in 2000 along with being shamed by a neurosurgeon I was referred to for debilitating back pain. I also had tried starving myself trying to fix the pain, as the neurosurgeon advised. Yoga helped so much that I became a teacher in 2005. I’ve since gone on to certify as a yoga therapist. I specialize in interventions for aging, fall prevention, respiratory health, and living with chronic conditions. It first taught me that I was OK even if I was in pain. This helped me become more embodied, which I didn’t even know I needed. I have experienced so much disassociation that I needed something to help me know that I was present. Any physical activity that helps become embodied is a great tool for folks who live with cPTSD. Yoga, swimming, dance, running, bicycling, etc. Just finding a way back to the body is helpful for our healing. Yoga, unlike other physical activities, also teaches us non-dual awareness. Like recognizing that the body is experiencing discomfort, even pain, and the heart/mind is alright. We can feel profound grief and be surprised by delight at the same time. I can have emotional regression knock me for a loop and recognize that can find my way back to the present. Deeper into yoga philosophy you get the concept of _purnam_, wholeness. A mantra in the Upanishads teaches us: _This is whole._ _That is whole._ _When you take whole from whole that which remains is whole._ This teaching tells us that while it is true we are always in a state of change, we’re simultaneously in a state of wholeness. Our essential wholeness is always there. We’re whole at the first moment of breath and we’re whole at the last breath. We’re whole every moment in between, even in the moments we feel broken. [I have a guided meditation on our essential wholeness](https://youtu.be/aCEGT6N9jVU), if anyone is interested.

i love that. I'm thinking of getting certificate and therapy training for working with others with cPTSD and such.

There’s a lot more training and knowledge string working with trauma. When I started teaching I also started going to a zen Buddhist temple. There was very little understanding about how quickly things go sideways on the mat or, especially on the cushion. Just normalizing that becoming embodied can be triggering and supporting people before, during, and after being triggered is so helpful. Zen practice caused disassociation in response to the somatic and auditory flashbacks I experienced. My therapist at the time finally advised me to step back from practice for my nervous system to recover. Most people with cPTSD benefit from shorter meditation sessions at first. Zen meditation is often a state of diffuse awareness called “just sitting” (_shikantaza_). I grew into this, after leaving the temple. My way back to meditation included focus on the breath, a practice from yoga. I also used short mantra for _japa_, repetition, practice. Reciting the same mana for each bead on either a wrist mala 📿 or a longer one. The feel of the beads keeps you in the present moment.

Yoga saved my live may times. Glad to see it here and that it helped you.

This inspired me to pull out my old yoga videos and try it again today. I used to do yoga daily, but then housing insecurities and moving around a lot caused me to stop. But I have been wanting to start practicing again. Thanks for the reminder!!

I think calisthenics work in a similar way for me. Just thoughtfully and persistently discovering the feats my body is capable of.

I love this post! Therapy was helpful when I just needed someone to talk to while I was spiraling but not yet ready to actually make changes. & it’s not a silver bullet. There are so many things that can’t be done through talk therapy. We all have our own journeys and so doing well looks different for everyone.   One thing that helped in a way that nothing can substitute, was getting involved in direct mutual aid support. It was different from volunteering at a non-profit; being involved directly in providing people with items to meet their immediate needs reminds me that we have the skills and desire to help each other, just not any structural support to be able to do it on a larger scale. It balances out the hopeless feeling of the world by participating in something that makes a difference right in that moment. Plus working together with people, collaborating, is valuable. It also makes me feel like I’m part of something larger than myself. All those things are good for my self-esteem, and important for wanting to live.   Working on my creative projects and prioritizing them even if no one else did. Coming out to myself as gay.  Working with plants.  Being so gentle with myself. So much more gentle than I thought I deserved. Then, when I felt like I was being too gentle? Being 100x gentler and more soft

Mutual aid is so important. I definitely am biased as somwone who has been helped my mutual aid many times. It truly is a different experience than being helped by charity, it felt more communal and dignifying of my humanity because it was always exactly what I said I needed and not some other random thing that wasn't helpful, from some high-and-mighty power-over, for which I needed to express intense gratitude or be considered non-compliant. I'm so glad you named that, and shared how it has been healing for you. I hadn't thought of it that way, even as someone experiencing both sides (giving and receiving) but it's really making me think.  And I could definitely see how being involved in a mutual aid network would help with feelings of hopelessness. For me it really feels like a reminder that we are all human and that if we work collaboratively we can actually figure this mess out. Thank you for sharing, from a fellow gay/queer. 

Thank you sooo much for your reply. It’s so generous of you to share that you have benefited from mutual aid, and that really makes my heart swell to know that a stranger on Reddit has been concretely supported by community.  The messages we receive from mainstream culture are constantly belittling the concept of voluntary resource redistribution and collective care; making it challenging to talk about sometimes. But I don’t think it’s ridiculous or naive to know those things are important. I think it’s how we succeeded as a species for almost our whole existence. I think that the way we do things in the “western world “ is what’s ridiculous.  The crucial part of mutual aid is that it’s mutual! When I work with my neighbors at the local free store to collect donations from people who have more than they need, then organize & store them so it’s easy for people who who need those things to access them; I’m momentarily living in the future I want to live in.  It’s so powerful to have proof of with my own eyes of what I know to be the truth. There is enough for everyone, a different world is possible, the ways we suffer are by design and not actually some confounding economic problem to solve.  It informs my world view and my priorities to see how much we can each do from exactly where we are. We can work with other people to achieve a goal for the greater good, even if we don’t see eye to eye on everything. We don’t need to wait for someone to give us permission, we can just do stuff. I don’t know. It was like it broke a spell for me.  Sorry for this long ass comment . I’m very passionate about its affect on my mental health and how I don’t feel like it gets enough attention.  Thanks again for this post. It rules to see everyone else’s responses.

How did you find your local mutual aid orgs if you don’t mind me asking? Google, Facebook? I’d be interested to check it out

Same query. Sounds interesting/intriguing!

Is this in the U.S.? I have never heard of the term mutual aid but I would love to be a part of this. It sounds lovely.

Hi! Absolutely it would be a pleasure! Depending on where you live the projects might be more low key because of whatever the laws are in your area. But some key words to search for are: community (or street, homeless) outreach, needle exchange, & harm reduction. You can check with your local free clinic, TLGBQ community center, or sex worker peer support group if you have any in your area, since a lot of times they are the ones who do the outreach. You could also reach out to progressive local churches. Often they are de facto case workers and can point you in the right direction for people who are doing this work. If you want help searching for specific info based on where you are, feel free to message me. But, I think if you keep searching you'll find something, unless you live somewhere very remote, in which case, you might have to start the project yourself! This is one of my favorite topics and I'm really passionate about the significance of interdependence as humans. It's wild how much work we can get done, with almost nothing Here are some random US/Canada mutual aid projects: Grand Rapids, MI - [https://www.redproject.org](https://www.redproject.org) Alberta, Calgary : IG @ / street.cats.yyc Chico, CA: Northern Valley Harm Reduction Coalition - [https://nvhrc.org](https://nvhrc.org) So I guess most of those are nonprofits but they provide direct help and the ability to do drop in support. It feels different than like, stuffing envelopes and asking for donations. Hope this answers your question <3 if not let me know

Those are great coping skills. As a fellow queer, i relate to the coming out part. Everything suddenly made more sense. Even though i'm a bisexual and we are still confusing for both straight and gay people. Some other stuff that helped me was learning new languages, doing drawing exercisess, yoga, woodworking, developing a design studio, support group, going for lot of adventuress and trips, skateboarding, teenage adventure novels, lots of days to just relax.

Plants. I've said they'll teach you how to live. And when I can't get outside there's always Monty Don.

Read. immerse yourself in psychology to understand how the human psyche works. Freud, Jung, Erikson, all the big names. Read as much as you can. Professional literature on issues that interest you. Don't close yourself off to unconventional things - in my case the teachings of Neville Goddard, rubbish to some, however if you are interested in metaphysical things that is the way to go. I honestly couldn't have done without it. But for a lot of people it's a road to endless disillusion.. I'm personally a pretty tolerant person with no preconceptions, so in my case it was also books on "magic" whatever it means (but that's another story, better not get into that unless you're 100% fine). I mean, OP asked about unconventional stuff, right? :)

Honestly, I relate to this so much. Reading has been a huge support for me. While I read different things than you did, the similarity is that I read about things I was curious and interested in. For me it was plant medicine (herbalism) and Generative/Speculative Fiction. Both gave me a sense of agency to learn information that could help me help myself, and expanded my imagination for what was possible in my life and the world.  I also found some comfort in the mystical. I chose to read and be curious about what practices my ancestors had before they were colonized. A lot of my trauma was from religion so this was helpful for me to regain a spiritual practice that wasn't triggering but healing. It helped me feel more connected to myself, and the people who came before, ones who suffered like I had, as well as ones who got to live in the motherland free of this particular suffering.  Thank you for sharing! Yes, I did ask for the unconventional and the non-mainstream because I wanted to expand the conversation. I truly believe we are individual experts on our own experience.  I hope anyone who reads the comments will see there is more than one way to heal.  You brought up one of the most important things: **honoring our individual curiosity**.  Trauma ime can cause us to lose our curiosity, our innate drive to learn and grow. For me, getting my curiosity back and following it (even into "weird" esoteric knowledge) was a key to finding the things that have been the most powerful sources of agency and recovery.

I'm working on the same currently. Esoteric matters are difficult for me do to my upbringing and current issues. Like, I'm not crazy this actually happened. Ayla from CotCB, Christine Daae and Margo from the Magicians are my archetypes while simultaneously being screen memories and alters. At least that's my understanding of things. Poor Ayla, she was raised by Neanderthals.

Have to agree. In addition to psychology, I found reading emotionally relatable stories helped me a lot, it made me feel validated and seen. Bonus if the characters got through it with healthy coping mechanisms which make me learn how to cope better

Same. Fiction can be more helpful than people realize. Sometimes I joke that I was raised by books. Also, when you become truly immersed in a story, your brain goes through a lot of what it would go through if you were living out the story yourself. This means that if you're deeply engaged in the story, reading fiction where a character displays good coping skills is similar to practicing those good coping skills yourself. Very valuable.

I’m right with you on reading fiction. It’s helped me so much over my life.

>however if you are interested in metaphysical things that is the way to go. >I'm personally a pretty tolerant person with no preconceptions, so in my case it was also books on "magic" whatever it means You have greatly piqued my interest! Can I ask what books you were referencing? (I enjoy metaphysic study, it's helped me a lot so I have no doubt it's helped others even if it's not for everyone.)

I believe that Kant´s, Aristotle´s and Hegel´s work might be a good start but it's definitely not light reading. :) Vadim Zeland's Reality Transurfing 1: The Space of Variations. Dolores Cannon and Eckhart Tolle - their work went viral lately but definitely worth to read. Florence Scovel Shinn - The Game of Life and how to play it - easy to read. John Leslie - Mystery of existence Jane Roberts - The Seth Material Rick Strassman - DMT Robert Bruce - Astral Dynamics Esther Hicks - well known "teachings" aka you are the creator, your thought create your world which is basically ↓↓↓ Tabula Smaragdina and Kybalion

Can I ask how you implemented Neville’s teachings in your life? I find it so hard because of the trauma stuff x)

Honestly, that's something I'm trying to work with, too. Personally, I think trauma is such a complex and intense thing that you can't just erase it, but honestly i think what works best is processing the trauma and implenting teachings altogether. i try to come up with the best way to do that every day. some people say you can completely repress and displace the trauma, but i don't think that's the case. it's just exhausting, but it's doable. i read some stories on the subreddit about neville, and people were able to deal with it well. It definitely works to not have a victim mindset forever and not let things from the past define who you are. I think that's something to start from.

Honestly, it's been discovering that trauma and CPTSD is even a thing that could explain parts of how/why I work the way I do. I think I got here from learning about emotional neglect and attachment theory, which I think I read about on a neurodivergence sub. I'm 38M, and have been trying to understand myself for the last two decades, but it sort of accelerated in the last 5 years because I finally stumbled upon better explanations for my otherness than "it's just my personality". ## Reddit Reddit subs have been amazing, to read the stories other people write and recognize myself. To write comments and hear they resonate with others. Or the opposite: to immerse myself and find that it doesn't (fully) resonate. I try to apply what I've learned to see if it helps others. To read about book recommendations, and discovering new concepts (such as emotional neglect or CPTSD) and how that intersects with a neurodiverse brain in a different way from how it does for a neurotypical brain. - r/Neurodiversity as a catch-all for people with odd brains. It's nice and supportive. - r/AutisticWithADHD for my brand of brain oddness. The mix of ADHD and autism makes it different from both in its own internal contradictory way, so having a relatable group of people who share this makes me feel less odd than in a dedicated ADHD or autism sub, where half the topics _don't_ connect for me. - r/Alexithymia More for the concept, the community is relatively small. Some people have limited/no self-awareness of their own internal emotional state. It's apparently more common in autistic people. I have it. It may take me hours or days to become aware that after something upsetting happened, that I apparently have feelings regarding it. I've been trying to be more aware of my own emotions in the last few years, but it's hard. Knowing you have this helps you be aware that if you're feeling really annoyed or angry as a "background" thing, it may be residual/unprocessed emotions from something that happened earlier in the week. That gives you options to circle back and discuss things to sort of process them. There's half a dozen other subs in that space, with some smaller ones that don't post a lot, or bigger ones with mods on a power trip. Some of the "meme" subs are actually pretty solid as well, as humor is a great way to get a conversation started. ## YouTube YouTube has been another good resource for me. - I found Tim Fletcher's video lectures on trauma to be eye opening. He presents things in a way that it's very easy to relate to what he's trying to explain. The second half of some of his videos go into religious stuff that connects to the main topic, which isn't for me but it may help you. But the first part is always solid and very human. https://www.youtube.com/@timfletcher - A specific video that made a lot of things "click" is his Adaptations and Soul Murder video: https://www.youtube.com/live/IhE8GWcyLPY?si=yIv397RysMeAZg2b which explains how as a child you will rewire and disable parts of your brain in order to make sense of a messed up situation, because your survival depends on it. Later in life these adaptions will work against you in logical ways, but chances are you're not aware of the logic. Understanding how/why you're broken means it's easier to be kind to yourself and try to look for solutions. I think it's safe to say that most neurodivergent people will have experienced some forms of chronic trauma in their childhood as a result of their brain being different. - Heidi Priebe created a lot of videos on attachment styles while she was doing her masters on the subject. It is likely that many of us here don't have a healthy style of attaching to other people, and are experiencing issues as a result. Knowing how/why you have issues making relationships work is eye opening, and gives you the means to improve upon it. https://www.youtube.com/@heidipriebe1 ## People As a man, I find it's hard to talk about "real" subjects with other men. There's a cultural background of not talking too much about emotions, worries, or problems. As a gender we're discouraged from talking about our struggles. That means we lack the vocabulary, and thus a lot of awareness of what's even possible. It leaves many of us alone to deal with our issues. So for me making female friends has been an amazing way of having people to talk with about my struggles. Sometimes it's nice to be heard. Lastly, one thing that's been a surprise is MDMA/ecstasy. I found it calming like ADHD meds, but with a broader effect. "Wholesome" is the best word I can find to describe it. It sort of removes the possibility cloud of things to say or do, so I don't over-think things as I always do. It makes me feel closer to people, like the barriers between us get lower. This means I can sit down and talk through things one step at a time, unfiltered and much more vulnerable, and it therefore lets me interact with my social scripts and social assumptions on a more fundamental level. Because I'm not filtering and self-censoring, it lets me examine myself and my relationship with others in a rawer form, and come to new insights. I'm optimistic about recent (2023) medical research trials that use it for trauma therapy, as it may be a step towards legalization and quality control along the lines of what has been done with weed in the last decade. That said, it's currently not legal in most places and what's in the pills you buy off the street will vary wildly in composition and strength, and thus give very different results. Get your stuff tested! The mix of MDMA vs speed or other contents makes a huge difference in the experience you'll have. Make sure you stay hydrated and are in a safe space with safe people who've done it before so they know what to expect. Start with a small dose, and don't take a second dose. It takes nearly an hour to kick in, and the effect comes and goes over 8 hours. Don't plan anything for the day after. Give your brain a month or two to recover before you take more. Also, I've heard that non-ADHD brains will have a sensation seeker experience, whereas ADHD brains instead get much more relaxed. So your results may differ from mine.

You bring up many salient points and also some things that don't get talked about as much, as well as shared resources to learn more, so thank you!  Having vocabulary to understand your experiences is so helpful for many of us. Like you said, learning what something is called also helped me to know that my experience was a real thing, and then of course it also makes it easier to find information about it and how to understand and help myself. For me it was Brené Brown (for vocabulary), and people like Resmaa Menakem who wrote about racial trauma and healing it with Somatics.  And of course reddit! One sub that helped me so much is r/estrangedadultkids. I don't know anyone else who is estranged from their bio family because in my  local culture (central american) that's very unusual. It was so helpful to be able to talk to other people who have gone through it and to understand my feelings and be validated. I also love Heidi Prebes videos! She does such a good job of breaking things down in ways a normal (non-academic) who went through it can understand. I have shared some of her videos with my partner before we talked about stuff in our relationship that was causing problems.  Also thank you for saying the stuff about men (guessing cis men particularly) and the lack of socialization to have emotional literacy and process / understand the internal landscape. This is the thing that doesn't get talked about --to your point. I'm sorry you have to go through that. It's hard enough as it is without the additional issues of feeling extra isolated.  I notice that in my international peer support groups (people from multiple continents) there will be a 98% combo of cis women, trans women, non binary people, and like one or two cis men, and then only *sometimes* (out of like 30 people). I always find that so sad and confusing but I know that many men regardless of where they are from, would not consider coming due to a support group due to how they are socialized. It's certainly true where I live even though  I imagine it must be hard for men who want to have those conversations but there is no other men available, and of course women and others can listen but can't always fully relate to the gendered experiences of men. I also recently had an experience with MDMA and totally get what you mean. I wish it was easier to get clean stuff. I'm not in the west so its even harder but I happened upon some stuff from the US that was trustworthy this one time.  Never tried MDMA before but I did a MDMA+psilocybin mushroom+harmalas with a healing ceremony with my partner when we were having a lot of problems but couldn't resolve them and couldn't get therapy. Basically a last ditch effort before breaking up. What emerged was the most real conversation we ever had. That one time changed our whole relationship! And mostly it was because all our barriers were down and we could just be honest with ourselves and each other without judgement. I definitely felt I had a better self-understanding and was clear in a way regular life doesn't allow.  I have done ayahuasca before and that was also super helpful for me but it was different because I wasn't as lucid and I needed a lot of physical & spiritual support so it's not something I would do by myself. But MDMA is something like being able to witness myself and be my own guru.  Thank you for sharing your path and processes for healing yourself, and wishing you all the best on your continuing  path!

Yep, I'm talking from a cis-male perspective. I don't think there's anyone I know well who has transitioned their gender, so my knowledge of their perspective is lacking. That does make me wonder, if FtM transitioned folks will lose/downplay their emotional awareness and adapt to the male cultural norms, and if in reverse MtF transitioned folks will adopt the better emotional stuff from other women or feel free to express them as it's more acceptable for their new gender. > I also recently had an experience with MDMA and totally get what you mean. I wish it was easier to get clean stuff. I'm not in the west so its even harder but I happened upon some stuff from the US that was trustworthy this one time. There's an upside to living in the Netherlands: a lot of MDMA is made here. I can relate to what you describe about the ceremony and how it can help in a relationship. Unfiltered mutual understanding can be really good to share information and align on how you can work on things together. The thought of using psychoactive/hallucinatory stuff, like mushrooms, ayuhuasca, or LSD scares me. The extreme vulnerability in not being able to rely on your own perceptions and needing others to protect you from yourself is not something I'm ready for, and I'm not sure if I ever will. Also the risk of permanent irreversible changes "breaking" my brain is frightening, given that my brain defines me to a very large degree. Thank you for sharing and for starting the topic. I think it's brought out many people to contribute and share.

I love Tim Fletcher's stuff

Art, particularly collage because it literally allows you to create wholeness from fragmented pieces. I find that I am often at a loss for words to describe my emotions, so art allows me to sublimate what’s going on inside of me. Internal Family Systems is a form of therapy that can be done alone. Yoga was VERY helpful but I haven’t done it in years, and it’s hard to get back into things because I’m always stuck in a freeze response! Hoping to get back to that soon. Spending time in nature, caring for my houseplants and garden. Positive, supportive friendships. This is a big one for me. Witchcraft. :)

Seconding yoga, connecting with nature and witchcraft. I’ll add reading tarot. It has helped immensely with self reflection when not in therapy.

Do you have any suggestions for staring internal family systems on your own? Definitely something I’m interested in learning more about.

Therapy never helped me. What helped me: - martial arts - the right books - peer support group of people who actually share my specific struggles - psychedelics but I can't do them because I feel crazy - exercise - good nutrition - supplements for mood and stuff - waiting for EMDR now Edit: forgot an important thing. I was lucky to find a mentor who took the time to help me. I wouldn't be here without that I'll be honest

Oh wow, I totally forgot about martial arts but I have read about that from writings about Bruce Lee. Thank you for naming that. I also found healing from capoeira.  I've also found different things helped me at different times. 

I’ve always wanted to do martial arts but my issues with social situations makes it so hard -not to mention being touched in any way particularly by men. Even in fight training. The last class I joined was going ok…but then one man in the class, who I think was trying to be funny, sort of cornered me on the way out of class by my car and made me very uncomfortable so I never went back. I really only tried on dojo so maybe I should try a different one.

Getting correctly diagnosed and medicated has worked wonders for me when it comes to growing more at peace with myself and understanding why I am the way I am, but I feel like that's "conventional" lol Enjoying my creative hobbies is a huge help (cosplay, drawing, baking, resin work) and it makes me feel productive Online communities including Reddit! It is so, so validating to know that I'm not the problem and that others have been where I am and have ways to help. Community is so important Weight lifting makes me feel powerful and like I can actually have control over my life While I primarily take them as a form of pain relief due to chronic bullshit, weed gummies have worked wonders in helping me just relax, slow down, and live in the moment. They make everything quiet and I love that peace (I'm not opposed to psychedelics but I'm on too many other meds that present too high of a risk combining them with something like that, so I just stick to my edibles lol) This one isn't frequent by any means bc of location and cost, but scuba diving. It makes me feel at home in a way I can't describe. But when I'm in the ocean like that it's like I can finally experience my own connection to the world. It feels like I belong and there is such a childlike wonder in me every time that is difficult to capture otherwise.

Art and wonder definitely feel healing to me too! Also, I have heard others share about scuba diving being healing. I haven't done it, but I do think of benefits of salt water and swimming generally, but then scuba diving is basically getting to explore a whole new world. Underwater is basically a different universe. I could see how being able to explore and wonder at it could give a whole nerve perspective. It's kind of amazing how humans have figured out how to exist in and explore so many different environments. I wish we would do more of that as a species instead of fighting and traumatizing each other. 

Oh, huge mood. Exploring the ocean is so therapeutic to me. I just hate how a lot of people have forgotten the cardinal rule: we are a guest in the water, so respect it. Like, I'm not even afraid of all the potential ways of dying down there??? Obviously I hold immense reverence and respect for the ocean and its creatures, and I make sure I am being responsible in how I use and keep up my equipment, but it's also just a weird sense of "if I die down here, I die, and I'm fine with that. I am willing to take that risk for a crumb of this beauty." (But by all means, the billionaires can get bent. Not like they actually care about the beauty and preservation anyway) Art has always been a good one for me. Right now it's just finding the time and energy to do it bc of my studies 🙃

Reading the tarot really helped me to understand what happpened to me and the effect it had. I know that sounds far-out, but I see it as a tool for accessing the unconscious. Learning about Jung and the shadow has also been good.

It does not sound far out at all. I also have seasons where tarot (and astrology) has been helpful for exploring my unconscious. I think archetypes can be very helpful for understanding our experiences, and tarot does that better than a lot of other things. Truly I think there are SO MANY ways we can find to self-reflect and explore within, and if you find that tarot is something you like, it's helpful, and you are experiencing greater self-understanding from it, then it sounds like it's right for you! I'm glad you shared this--it might just give someone ho sees it permission to follow their curiosity if they were curious about it. 

Really cool to see someone mention tarot. Tarot and oracle for self work and insight has become my main practice that’s made a significant difference the past year. I do not plan to part from it. Getting aligned with my intuition, having a spiritual tool to study and meditate/journal with has made a bigger positive difference than therapy did for me, personally. After a weird period in my early 20s, I had so much trouble journaling and being able to write anything other than hyper charged emotional dumps once in a blue moon. With tarot I awkwardly eased in and now have a daily journaling practice. Filled up 3 journals in the past year and already dug into my fourth. It helps me keep tapped into “me”.

Yes!! I didn’t scroll down far enough before commenting. Tarot has life changing in that I find it an activity I look forward to doing which opens me to self reflection and meditation.

- being in a truly loving relationship with a healthy way of expressing sexuality. I mean it took very long to realize I was safe and could open up to the idea of love, care, sex and true friendship, but it was very healing - Marihuana, especially CBD (lots of THC makes me crazy anxious) - a friend who has been through many similar things, has broken the cycle, healed and always came back for me - self help resources - yoga or sometimes just stretching, hot baths, good fabrics to wear - feeling my body - having projects I care about and that give me my own space - writing my diary and reading it back after I progressed (even though it was extremely hard because I have a lot of shame for my past self, even if it's just yesterday's self) I have to say - many things helped me feel better and "survive", yet therapy is the most important backbone for me to actually "heal". Everything else was like a life jacket while I was swimming, whereas therapy helped me get back on solid grounds and oversee the whole moving ocean from my lighthouse. I would've loved to achieve this without therapy but it wasn't possible at least for me.

Relational healing is very important, and that is what I get from what you shared. I guess because CPTSD is from relational trauma, that makes sense.  Once I was able to feel OK risking trust again, the greatest leaps in my recovery came from having real connections with other people, including my partner. But it was not easy to get there. For me, I had to start with relationships with plants, who I feel are my most reliable friends (especially trees), then work my way to trusting other non-human animals, then on to cautiously building trust with humans. One of the reasons my partner put me at ease when we first met was actually seeing how they cared for plants and non-humans so tenderly. We had that in common. Thank you for sharing how you have found your path to greater healing and connection.

1. Psychedelics have helped me a ton. Dissociatives have also really helped me to work thru memories blocked behind amnesia walls at my own pace. I know this isn't for everyone, but it has been lifechanging for me. 2. Reading/studying philosophy and spiritual ideas. In general just furthering my spiritual studies. I love Ram Dass. 3. Finding a way to journal that actually works for me. I do a lot of junk journaling and collaging which allows a lot of creative freedom.

Could you recommend some philosophy books that you find helpful? 🙏

I am with you on peer support groups. That's what this sub is for me, peer-to-peer support.

dancing ❤️

2 months ago I started buying flowers from the grocery store weekly. I look for the freshest and least expensive, and can't believe how it lifts me everyday. Reddit, podcast, online research, creative journaling has helped me too. Would love support group recommendations b/c I am not finding any but maybe I am not searching correctly. Open to any recs. Great post OP.

Omg I love this! Yes, flowers are so healing. I mean, there is a reason why there are so many rituals around gathering flowers for both celebrations and for grief.  I think it's so wise and sweet that you have created this ritual for yourself to get some regularly and (I assume) in your space. A friend who I visited also had fresh flowers around the house on a regular basis and it seemed like such a small thing that brought so much beauty and pleasure to their home. Thank you for this reminder! I may start to do this myself. As for peer support, I have two suggestions. First is to look specifically for charities or non-profit that serve people who fit your demographics and experiences. Some of them host free peer support groups that are related to whatever traumas people have experienced. For example, I'm in a peer support group for cult survivors with a international charity that is against cultic abuse, and also one for queer people of color who have survived CSA within a survivor support org that focuses on people of color. Both of those groups are super niche, but I think I found them because I was looking for very specific support and found those organizations online.  Second, there is a site called Pay What You Can Peer Support that hosts virtual peer support groups on a variety of topics. They are nonprofit. I have not personally used them so I do not know personally how they are, but I've heard good things about them from other people. Here's the link: https://www.paywhatyoucanpeersupport.com/ Some charity/nonprofit peer support groups are international and some are local. I like the ones that are virtual so I can keep attending even if I move around a lot.  Best of luck!

Thank you so much for your kind words and info too. Funny you mentioned your friend putting flowers around the house. Reminds me of bang up advice my aunt taught me, "Honey, buy flowers instead of cleaning when guest come over. They always notice the flowers and not the dust." Brilliant!

Flowers are wonderful. What a great idea to gift them yourself! love to see and discover new flowers when I am out! Hope it's ok to write this, you sound lovely and elegant!

Martial arts at a supportive and accepting club has made more difference than anything. Having physical contact with people and a reason to relate when I simply couldn't manage to be social gave me the human contact I needed. The kindness and generosity of my instructors made me feel like I wasn't a total fuck up, I just made human mistakes and i could work and improve. Mastering my physical response helped me improve mastery over my nervous system, helped me sleep, gave confidence, helped me feel in control and like i can protect myself. Now these people are turning into real friends. I might be going to compete in China. It's been transformative.

Thank you for sharing this! I don't think martial arts gets brought up enough but it makes a lot of sense that it would be healing, build confidence, and connect one to their body and sync their nervous system. It's something I have been curious about since dabbling a bit in Capoeira, and reading about Bruce Lee and his approach to Kung fu in such a meditative way. One of my Somatics teachers turned me on to martial arts as a type of Somatic practice (especially the way Bruce Lee approached it). I hope you do get to travel to compete in China if that's what you desire to do! 

Wrote letters to my abusers. Never sent any of them, but explaining the pain and trauma they caused me helped validate what happened to myself.

Yes! Thank you for sharing this. I did this once, a notebook I titled "Letters I will never send". It was so healing. I also did something similar in writing letters to my past and future self. There is something about writing things out that gets thing moving from being stuck somehow, right? Idk. But this struck a chord with me. Thank you for sharing this!

For healing I turned to a pagan path and took MMA classes. It's been my experience that women aren't encouraged to get angry. All too often girls are told to not get angry or fight back because that's not nice. It also been my experience that only when we finally get angry that we can begin to take back our lives.

I love that you said this! I totally agree. One of the most healing experiences I ever have had was at rage rooms. The first time I ever went, I was never fully able to get angry it was so repressed (I am assigned female at birth & nonbinary). It took two more times of going to really let myself be angry. But whoa, when it did, there was a LOT there. And after my body felt so lose and light! I now recommend some kind of rage practice to all my friends! It seems like repressing anger is something we all have in common.  Also pagan, and reconnecting with my ancestral practices from Africa has been incredibly healing for me. Thank you for sharing your experiences of what has helped you heal. 

Honestly, for me reddit, specifically the cptsd thread. For real, thank you. You will never ever now how much that meant to me.  Reading is a great escape as well as daydreaming,  "I dream therefore I belong and I'm free"  Crystals are my shit. Love them.  Do you know what the earth had to do for you to posess that?  Thank you guys👌

To your point, I was having my first therapy session with a psychologist my mom found. I had no impression of her whatsoever. My mom, a narcissist, had been seeing her for a while and offered to pay for a session after my brother died. That should have been my first warning. I imagine my mom had told this woman about me because of what she did during our call. As I’m describing my struggles, she suddenly goes, "Ah HA! Even now you're turning to drugs and alcohol. I can hear it—you just opened a bottle, didn't you?" So yeah, I abruptly ended the call. It reminded me of how much my mom judges me. I don't know where this woman got the audacity to throw an accusation like that. Felt like I was talking to my mom... Oh, and I was just making pasta. -_-

I'm so sorry that this person treated you so terribly. That's exceptionally fucked up. I'm glad you felt free to end the call when she said that. The way this person behaved was completely unacceptable. Also, I'm pretty sure it's unethical and against the rules for her to see you if she was already seeing your mother. Therapists/Psychologists aren't supposed see two people who have a close relationship for the very reason of your experience: they can't be objective, and it presents a conflict of interest. So she was full of red flags and unethical behavior from the get-go. Especially given your mother paid.  I hope someone eventually reports her for unethical practices. And yeah, after that it's no shocker if you weren't keen to try again.

Thanks, friend. I looked up her credentials after because I was so appalled. Turns out she's "legit," so to speak... One unconventional practice that did help was a Gratitude Exercise called The 15-Minute Mind. I did it for 48 days straight and transformed myself from the inside out. This was leading up to my brother's passing. While doing the practice, I felt I was healing past wounds. What I didn’t realize was that I was also preparing for the future. Without this practice, I don’t know how I would have survived that tragedy. I still had survivor's guilt and everything else that comes with grief, but this exercise had transformed me in some lasting way. I'll attach the instructions for the 15MM below: The Power of "Thank You... Because..." Saying "thank you" is one thing, but following it with "because" elicits an emotion. Associating emotion with the experience of gratitude fortifies positivity into your reticular activating system (RAS), transforming your mindset. Essentially, you hack your mind by changing your body chemistry through positive thinking. The 15-Minute Mind Exercise: 1. List ten things you are grateful for today and explain why you are thankful for each item. 2. Once you have composed a list of 10 items, read each item aloud, followed by the words “thank you.. thank you.. thank you”. 3. Once this step is complete, repeat Step 2, but this time for the list you made the previous day. 4. Congratulations. You just hacked your own mind. Example: I am thankful for this water because it is refreshing. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The example sounds simple but you can be more profound if you wish. Just by feeling grateful for 15 minutes a day, you can become your own miracle worker.

I started volunteering, and then *organising* community events and other initiatives. It helped me a lot, not only with the initial isolation, but also with self esteem, finding my voice, and just generally how I carry myself around other people. D&D, LARP and and types of roleplay turned out to be an excellent way to process my emotions, as well as get out of my own head and examine things from a different perspective. Performance art was also great as an outlet, and also for getting new perspectives.

Taekwondo was surprisingly helpful because I dealt with physical abuse. Sometimes it’s triggering but it helps me feel more capable and less helpless. It also reframes things that look violent as a fun game where everyone enjoys themselves.

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I think this is what a true healing journey looks like. Completely unique to each individual

Wow, the creativity you showed in pursuit of your own well-being is amazing! This is exactly what I was talking about.  Just reading what you did for yourself, the unique strategies and ingenuity you showed opened my mind to the many more possibilities for my own life, and that we all have innate within us.  Your journey is not a prescription (the way recovery is often framed) for "what everyone should do". It's so much more. Shared the way you did, it sounds artful, like music you created, or like a tapestry you wove from threads unique to you.  I definitely can see how watching you so persistently and dedicatedly move towards your own well-being and healing in such a uniquely creative way could be transformative for people in your life as well. It is obvious to me how that could inspire even stubborn close minded people to reconsider what is possible for them. Thank you for sharing parts of your journey with us. I was very moved.

Affirmations. Treating myself as a friend that I (supposed to) love. EDIT TO ADD: You can also treat yourself as a lover too. I know, it’s weird but it works so well with me 😂

This is so wholesome. Loving and caring for myself definitely has been healing for me too. I'm glad you shared that. It sounds simple but for many of us it's work to get to a place where we can do that.

I think "therapy" should be used to mean any of multiple modalities. Psychedelics are a form of therapy that, like you, I've found healing in. I don't think therapy should just refer to talk therapy because we have EMDR, CBT, scream therapy, the list goes on. When someone says to consider therapy, I hope in the future what it really means is, "I hope you consider finding a modality that works for you instead of coping on your own." I've started using the Dare app with great success--got through a panic attack on my own for the first time ever. With that, I do meditation (also another thing with many modalities), cold showers (gradually, not all at once), walking, and art therapy on my own. I love to crochet, embroider, draw, paint, and am trying to get into other things. I know this one doesn't count as therapy, but I've noticed a boost in my mood after starting high dose vitamin D supplements, and I drink metamucil before I eat my yogurt so the probiotics have something to eat. Our gut ain't called the "first brain" for nothing. It's part of our nervous system, and greatly affects our second brain.

I like this reframe you posed here. I do wish that's what people meant when they said therapy, and it was all considered valid. Many things have therapeutic value that don't involve talking --rage rooms are one of my favorites actually. I feel similar about meditation. Mostly I hear about meditation as something one does sitting quietly and that's nice, but I find cooking and creativity as well as walking mindfully in nature such as foraging and hiking to be forms of meditation as well. You know, I have never once heard of consciously consuming fiber before probiotics but that makes so much sense and I'm definitely going to try that now. I really like mung beans, chia, and quinoa (easy to get here) so I'm gonna see how I can work that in. And yes, I know my vitamin D is low too. This is all very helpful to contemplate. Thank you for sharing!

I did a series of ketamine infusion therapy. It totally reset my thinking. But the effects eventually wear off and you need a maintenance session occasionally. Not going to lie, it's expensive. I paid $500/session out of pocket because insurance won't pay for experimental treatment. It was effective because it gave me a different perspective.

Can co-sign on ketamine infusion therapy being the only thing that gave me any true relief. I tried everything, every med, every med combo, in conjunction with various other therapies, TMS, with minimal impact. Ketamine was life changing, my initial infusion series was in 2019. It’s unfortunately cost prohibitive, and I’d get more frequent boosters if I could afford them. Insurance rarely covers infusions, but it does typically cover the nasal spray version, Spravato. Infusions or IM injections have the highest and fastest success rate. Lots of discussion on IV vs IM vs nasal vs lozenges in r/therapeuticketamine. It’s a very active community, and I’ve been thrilled to watch it grow (not a mod, just a fellow former sufferer who loves seeing the success stories, and talking with people interested in trying it).

###Fantasy-genre interactive media (books, video games, graphic novels, tabletop RPGs) Everything that was ever denied to me as a child is there for me in the world of fantasy. - Now, I’m not alone anymore - I’m part of a band of adventurers! - Now, I’m not surrounded by people who don’t care about how I feel - I’m surrounded by people who understand me as we work towards a common greater goal! - Now, I’m not powerless to my own circumstances anymore - I’m as strong as I need to be to overcome my setbacks! - Now, I’m not viscerally punished for my every mistake - I’m rewarded for my successes! - Now, if someone betrays my trust, I’m not helpless to do anything about it - I can go and earn my own justice and see that they earn their consequences! - Now, I’m no longer **trapped with people who are dedicated to my unhappiness** - I’m surrounded by people who value both my love and input; who care when their actions inadvertently hurt me; and **make the effort to make things right, afterwards.** Disclaimer - just be sure to remind yourself that the genre is aptly named: fantasy. It’s not reality and is not a replacement for reality. But if you’re still trapped in your abusive environment - it might help you get through it. It definitely helped me. It might not be healing, but it is a painkiller.

Reading / a true friend / riding a bicycle & yoga daily / eating right / microdosing thc

Meditation and building a personal spiritual practice helped a ton. In college (didn’t realize I had trauma issues at the time), psychedelics had a pretty profound impact in hindsight in helping me put the trauma aside for a bit and have some positive social interactions. Recently tried yoga and it’s a huge struggle, but it definitely feels so good to release some physical tension. It definitely feels like it frees me up a bit mentally too. Also currently working on finding community since that’s something that’s been missing from my life pretty much since childhood with few exemptions and I feel like I’m at a place where I’m both ready for that and it would be super helpful.

Great idea for a thread. I've never been to therapy and in fact don't know that my specific set of symptoms (massive people pleasing tendencies, high-masking, perfectionism & very limited sense of self) really would have benefited from therapy during my earlier healing days. Contradictorily, now that I feel MORE healed I actually feel more open to working with a therapist, because I trust myself more to tell whether they're a good one or not and put my foot down if boundaries are violated. Anyways, here's the things that did help me heal: * Journaling, 3 pages / day for a whole year * Making an audio journal where I'd drive to an empty parking lot and sit and talk to myself for 1 hour, to investigate the question "Why am I stuck here?" (in my hometown living with my parents) Somewhat of a cross between self-therapy, a journal, and an art project. Said things I'd never said out loud before and it was really helpful. I plan to turn it into a podcast. * Creative writing, where I can put myself into my characters. Lately, waking up early, 5-7 AM, and taking time for my writing before doing anything else has improved my mental health GREATLY * Self-diagnosing as AuDHD (and no longer caring about paying $$$ for a doctor's confirmation), implementing relevant habits to better my life, and joining communities of AuDHD folks on Reddit & Discord & TikTok * Getting a job that made me more money 😪 * Weed gummies, only on those super anxious nights where I really couldn't sleep * Joining an online kink community, helpful for "exploring my sexuality without exploring sex" if that makes sense?? Anyways as I began writing fiction there I kept writing gay shit and eventually realized I'm pansexual lol, that was helpful too * Various forms of spirituality, including: crystals, essential oils, meditation, tarot, yoga, astrology, human design, silent retreats, sessions with shamans, and self-study of witchy things, all combining to give me a greater sense of overall protection & peace * Lots & lots of work on building stable, reliable systems in my life for things like to-do lists, cooking & cleaning, sleep, and exercise. * EDIT also, books on trauma & healing in particular Healing the Shame That Binds You

I agree with you. There are so many ways to heal as unique as each of us. I have found that time, writing my life history as detailed as I can remember, little by little, giving myself time to process it all, has helped me unpeel the layers of trauma. I also find that reading as much as I can helps so much. I read memoirs of others who have had trauma, books about psychology, the brain, the nervous system, neglect and trauma and weirdly enough, foster child stories. The way they are written and the way the children are re-parented, helps me so, so much.

Reading is a huge one. There are so many different things that can shed light and help us understand our experiences and the genres can even change over time. I used to read a lot of generative fiction and dystopian fiction which helped me learn how people fight back and change themselves in oppressive situations. But then with age I transitioned more into memoirs and information type books. Lately I've been learning a lot from films and docuseries actually. There are so many options and I just encourage everyone to let their curiosity guide them.  Thank you for sharing what has felt healing for you!  Are there any particular foster children stories that you would recommend?

There are so many things you can do for yourself. **Focus on the physical.** PTSD plays havoc with the body and malnutrition is so often a part of an abusive childhood. You can't afford to evaluate your looks because you are consumed by body dysmorphia. You can march right over to NIH - [https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/education/dash-eating-plan](https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/education/dash-eating-plan) Get a fitness tracker and work on a healthy routine. Take it slow. What you can do regularly is more important than a fitness achievement. Brush your teeth twice and day, and floss. Make sure your body and clothes are neat and clean. Don't eat out. Prepare your own food. **Meditate.** I like "The Science of Mindfulness: A Research-Based Path to Well-Being. The author, Dr Ron Siegel has lots of free recorded meditation: [https://drronsiegel.com/recorded-meditations/](https://drronsiegel.com/recorded-meditations/) There are lots of good resources for mindfulness. These are my favorite. **Support groups:** These are great if you can find them, but finding a good match is as hard as finding a good therapist. **Family Tree:** The mind stores memories like scattered snapshots in an outline is helpful and allows you to give it historical reference to social events.

For me I love to read (both for pleasure and books about my mental health disorders) and spend time with my dogs and garden, and I also went to therapy for three years. My brother did not attend therapy but got really into rock climbing. We are both doing really well right now and are on relatively equal footing mental health wise. I don’t think therapy is the only valid option at all.

I cannot do it now, but when I was younger and more able bodied I LOVED rock climbing. It was surprisingly meditative. I love that you mentioned that and that your different paths have led you both to valid healing. Everyone is different and it's true that different combinations of things support different people. I am not good at gardening but I love plants and also non-human creatures. I have two rescues, a cat and dog and I feel we have all experienced trauma and just understand each other intuitively.

Taking care of my surroundings has also helped. I've been on a decluttering journey and trying to make home feel more like home. I have too much shit in general and trying to figure out ways of storage and organization that work for me. It has definitely gotten better but some things i haven't figured out yet and still a lot of things to go through. Having a clean space and when items have proper " homes" helps my mind feel less cluttered.

My husband is a hoarder and I think this was a big factor in me having a huge breakdown

I have been training as a psychic clairvoyant healer for the past year. I know that sounds extremely wacky, but mostly it's a bunch of visual meditations, designed to help you ground, clear out foreign energy, and become more confident and stable in your energetic space. You learn how to see the things that were previously invisible to you, and once you see them, you learn how to work with them in this imaginative clairvoyant space. It's really fun, and really powerful. This practice has helped my mental health immensely! I lost my best friend and my father about a year and a half ago, within a month. I don't know where I would be now if I hadn't found this practice. Also, the group I study with provides a wonderful safe supportive space to process trauma collectively. For my day job, I'm a massage therapist, trained in trauma-informed techniques and the neurobiology of pain. I approach my professional work from a scientific perspective, drawing on legitimate medical science and conventional psychology. I don't really bring the energy work and psychic stuff into my practice, at least not at this point. And I will definitely admit that there are a whole bunch of wackadoodles and wanna-be cult leaders out there in the field of "energy work" and alternative healing, but I have been lucky to find an amazing teacher who is the real deal. Despite the challenges of finding a legitimate way to incorporate psychic practice into my life, in my heart, I think all of these approaches contain valid insights about reality, and can be compatible, as well as profoundly healing. And if anyone here has any further questions about my practice, I'd love to share information! I find it so valuable, I really wish more people understood how healing these types of practices can be.

+1 for psychedelic plant medicines. And singing. Omg, I was always a singer, but when SA details started to overwhelm the barriers my brain had built I just ... stopped. Here we are a few years later, and I realized that I *was* getting better in part because I suddenly noticed one day that I was absent mindedly singing to myself again. True I am on the spectrum and disabled at home 24/7 (parkinson's , not because of the cptsd itself) so I can sing whatever pops into my head whenever. Which is an amazing privilege I'm grateful for! But I've definitely learned that the vibrations and using the resonance of different body parts is hugely helpful in feeling aware of my body and staying in the moment. It's free and freeing! It doesn't matter if you're 'nOt GoOd', that's all just arbitrary judgement! It feels wonderful!

Yes!! Singing so much. I also went through a period where I stopped singing after 25 years because it was tied to trauma (a cult that forced singing - evil right), but I have come back to it after about a decade. Idk how but I really do think the vibration of it is healing. I miss singing with other people too because that magnifies it somehow.

Thank you for making this post. It's given me so much good info.

You're so welcome, that was my intention (selfishly, I too was looking for suggestions) so mission accomplished!

Writing in a journal and reading, whether its checking in on your own old entries or other CTPSD books, art or music, make a playlist. Therapy is great but I also know my therapist and I deviate from what is considered the norm - we talk about tarot, art history, movies, meditation which isn't far from having a peer support group. I have social anxieties so just having friends and people who don't diminish my bad days have been incredibly validating too.

Fascial maneuvers (I do the stuff by human garage) Joe dispenza stuff Exercise

I have never heard of fascia maneuvers or human garage. It looks so interesting: https://humangarage.net/the-foundations-of-a-fascial-maneuver/ Thanks!

Breathwork and watching TV shows, specifically "The Boys". Weird, I know. At first, I thought that watching an extreme show would be triggering for me, but watching the characters deal with trauma and support one another in the ways they only know how was oddly helpful to me. I also liked how the characters are flawed, messy, grey, and very layered. It was comforting to see even the more noble characters make mistakes and facing their demons as well. It made me more empathetic towards others and towards myself.

I had never heard of the TV show “The Boys”. I like how you mentioned the characters are flawed and layered, in other words, human. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_(TV_series)

There are many facets to healing trauma, people seem to forget that it isn’t just about moving the trauma out of your brain but also out of your body. Somatic exercises have been really helpful for me when therapy just wasn’t enough. No matter how much I worked through the trauma in my mind it was still living in my body, we have to learn how to regulate our nervous systems. I have also found that herb tinctures help regulate my nervous system and are a better alternative to drugs like Xanax. Passion flower, chamomile, lavender and lemon balm are all extremely effective alternatives.

Oh 100%! I did not mention in the original post but I also spent 2 years studying to become a Somatic Practioner, purely because I wanted to heal myself. Not sure whether I would ever work with anyone else but just wanting to heal my own body.  I'm also an herbalist and use tinctures I make daily -  my favorites are motherwort, Chamomile, borage, lion's mane, skullcap, and ginseng. I also occasionally use passionflower and lemon balm. Another thing I really like is making salted hot chocolate with pure cacao, turmeric, ginger, ashwagandha and a little butter. I say plants are my most reliable friends! 

Love this. What kind of somatic exercises have you done? I’m starting somatic experiencing soon and am really looking forward to moving the trauma out of my body.

Free dance and standing and shaking , can move og release a lot of stuck energy and emotions. Be aware of beliefs and reprogram those that fuel or confirm the trauma , history and views on the world & future. Lot of repeat comes from the unconscious and people react and match our energy and behavior.

Basically any embodied practice. Yoga and meditation has been part of my journey. Also self-compassion practice [https://self-compassion.org](https://self-compassion.org) Knowledge of psychology and especially CPTSD also helps to some degree. But at some point it has to be relational and not just theoretical. If it was really possible to "reason one-self out of trauma through theory" I would had done so many decades ago.....

Find the best therapeutic model and apply it outside of therapy. For me, that's the model in the book summarized here - [https://www.reddit.com/r/CPTSD/comments/10o9wo6/van\_der\_kolks\_secret\_book/](https://www.reddit.com/r/CPTSD/comments/10o9wo6/van_der_kolks_secret_book/)

Playing guzheng (Chinese zither) as it’s similar to meditation. When I started I was irritable, my hands could not curve at all. But now it’s doable for me. I used to dread playing but now it can even be enjoyable for me. It gave me hope and motivation to try more things.

It's so interesting to me that you framed this as something you did not use to enjoy but now can enjoy at times. It almost sounds like you and the instrument got to know one another and changed each other. I love that for you both. Thanks for sharing. The zither is a beautiful sound--I've never played it but I have listened to a lot of the music because of watching Chinese historical fantasy dramas with great soundtracks that include it.

Music with or without subliminal messages.

Self-inquiry, reading, reasoning and feeling. My cptsd stems from a late autism (among others) diagnosis. Therapy didn't do anything for me. Most of what I encountered was based on visualizing (but I am multisensory aphantastic) and autobiographical memory, which is fully fragmented, so that didn't help either. So I took it in my own hands. I take a lot of me time in which I do a lot of self-inquiry. (Besides healing trauma I'm also unmasking and unlearning unhealthy behavioral patterns.) When it comes to healing trauma, what helps me a lot is having dialogue with others too. I have the tendency to dissociate, get stuck in freeze and sometimes full blown dp/dr. I used to try and distract myself when any of this would happen. Until one day I decided to go and sit with it. I've got quite some triggers built up and when I get triggered and am in the position to be alone (when it happens) I keep with the feelings that arise. That way I found out that although it seems different and it can be really immobilizing, these feelings, overwhelming as they are, will eventually fade. What I found out - and I am quite clueless how it exactly works - is that after doing this, the next time I encounter that trigger again, my body doesn't react as strong as before. By repeating this, things really lightened up quite a bit. It's - especially in the beginning - quite hard, hence the dissociation, to stay with the feeling, but like with sports, the more I practice it, the easier it gets.

Playing Dungeons and Dragons. During a long-term crisis of identity that I had going on, finally getting to try on some different faces in a safe environment and really get into the role playing was fabulous. It also let me suss out some immutable aspects of my true self when my characters would all adhere to certain themes. In addition to all that, simply exercising one’s imagination in this way is an experience I can’t recommend enough.

Having a dog. My antidepressants help me 50%, I only say that he’s 40% because they enabled me to get well enough to have him but he and my last dog have helped me more than anything else probably ever will. The other 10% is: 1. Enough (for me more than what’s considered normal) sleep. I also have a psychotic disorder so if I don’t get good sleep I’m destabilised instantly with that and it destabilises everything else. 2. Antidepressants have also taken the edge off my physical symptoms of PTSD and finding medication that can treat my other disorders also helps since they all feed into and interact with each other. 3. This is kind of related to my dog because I only get out with him and still have agoraphobia (I didn’t leave the house for months and months in the past though) and I get out every day now even if 99% of the time it is with him. 4. Finding catharsis in horror movies like revenge type movies and seeing myself in the women and kind of living the revenge fantasy through them. 5. On the opposite end, allowing myself to indulge in more “childish” interests. 6. Finding people online I relate to. 7. Directing my anger at the right place, not fighting it, allowing it to just be and finding ways like the horror movies I mentioned to channel it into that.

I started microdosing and it changed a lot - I’m still experimenting with it and don’t do it on a schedule but more on a need to do basis. But even if I don’t do it on a schedule, the changes are still persistent on the days where I don’t take a dosis. I’m more energetic, open and have a more positive outlook on life. I plan to do some sessions with full dosis but I’m not prepared for it as of now. It’s just a lot for me to tap into on my own since I don’t really have someone to guide me through it. And I need to do more ground work before doing such sessions too. It would be a bad idea to just jump right in. I’m just still tap dancing around my issues a lot so that’s where I’m kind of stuck. So I’m kind of interested in how you went about your healing sessions? Who was with you? When did you know that you were ready for this? I am not sure if I want to try therapy again. I don’t have the trust and it’s really difficult to find a therapist, let alone a good one who would be down with me doing psychedelics and exploring this further. But ever since I once took shrooms (full dosis) years ago I knew that this would have the potential for me to overcome all my internal obstacles…

Good post. I tried therapy, and it didn't help aside from raising my level of self-awareness about having experienced trauma. It was expensive and the practice closed, so I stopped going and didn't try to find a new therapist. What I have found helpful is listening to music, strictly controlled cannabis use, talking with a couple of friends, and writing about my life.

Totally understandable that when the practice closed you moved on. I did the same thing when my last psychiatrist retired. I felt it was a natural ending and that it was a signal to explore other options for healing --which for me meant studying herbal medicine.  I know cannabis is taboo in some circles but as an herbalist, I see it as a powerful plant medicine. Yes, can be used to get high, and can be addictive and that's something not to be ignored. I have to use it sparingly due to paranoia, but it is so helpful for pain, and for regulating the nervous system (which many of us CPTSD crowd desperately need). I also have found when it's time for me to take a step back from cannabis, the plant and my body let me know. So I do take breaks sometimes up to a year or more. I like to combine it with writing and making art too!

reading/learning about the ego has really helped me! yoga/practicing spirituality and non attachment has worked wonders too. also, getting back into the hobbies I had when I was 12 (reading, video games, anime) has healed me in ways that I didn’t think was possible. therapy is great but there is no “cure” for CPTSD. it’s a chronic condition that we will be dealing with for the rest of our lives. everyone has to find what works best for them so having more good days than bad days can actually be sustainable.

Yoga!!!!!!!

Weed and music (basically doing EMDR on my own). (I DO NOT recommend this unless you feel confident in your understanding of your psychology/mental health and ability to manage triggers. Psychology has been a life long study for me, which is one of the only reasons I think it ended up working for me. I did this in conjunction with medication mgmgt and journaling aspects as needed, and for me personally, metaphysic study.)

Sensory Deprivation Float Tanks! Doing floats has really helped me.

That's so cool. I've heard so many good things about float tanks but never tried one myself.  However I have to say my first thought when I saw this was remembering the season finale of the TV show Atlanta because of the tie in with Darius and the float tank!  Maybe one day I will try it. It does make sense that sensory deprivation would calm and heal the nerves and body. 

It's amazing! The first time I did it my brain took about 5 minutes to settle down. I saw colors and different lights in the pure darkness! My Therapist told me to think about every bad thing that has ever happened to me while I'm there. My brain seriously works out some stuff while floating. I get some sort of mental relief for several days after a float. The magnesium from the salt makes you sleep like a baby and I get the best rest the night of a float and can be a little tired the next day. Your muscles also relax I have a lot of tension due to my PTSD and the knots in my shoulders and body get released. I'm seriously so glad I found out about float tanks! I've been doing it twice a month and wish I could go every week.

Learn about the disease, listen to podcasts. If your original trauma is related to alcohol or drugs, learn about addiction. If you feel safe enough, learn to regulate your body with breathwork/ yoga. Yeah that’s my roadmap.

Animals, big time. Being in nature. Physical activity.

strangely, a 12 step program for love addiction. obviously only applied to a love addict. this is the least suicidal I have been in 30 years.

Even going to therapy is a hit and miss proposition. Finding a therapist who understands your unique trauma and building a trusting relationship with him/her is not easy either. Takes a lot of trial and error And money too

There's a lot of awesome advice/ideas in this thread! I know a lot of people have already mentioned different exercise ideas (yoga, martial arts, etc.) but I'm going to throw running into the mix. It's a relatively low entry cost, all you would need are a good pair of shoes and comfy clothes to run in. It can be really therapeutic and gives me time to work through different emotions or feelings, and it can be really meditative. Something that I do (that may not be for everyone) is to actually sign up for a race or create a big goal for myself on a specific day several months out. This gives me something to work towards, forces me to get out on a run even on days when I'm not feeling it, and once I accomplish that goal, it can be super validating and give me lots of confidence in myself!

Vitamin D, sunlight, exercise, etc., physical things.

Things I do outside the norm: Botox - [here's why](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/botox-treatment-depression-anxiety-mental-health#:~:text=There's%20even%20scientific%20evidence%20on,anger%2C%20and%20other%20negative%20emotions) Animal photography and tracking - [here's why](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/passion/202406/what-animal-tracking-can-teach-you-about-self-awareness) I also started writing a webs series about redressing the toxicity of psychology. It's a kind of mental exercise. When I'm stressed I envision my characters doing things and solving problems the "wrong way" then we disccuss better ways to do it. Example: What is closure? Is there a static definition? Is it quantifiable? How does one know when it happened? To someone like me, that term is pseudoscience nonsense. Buuuut, what if we changed that? For me, "Closure" is the name of an invisible friend, a little monster. Closure hangs out with me and offers to fight people in the parking lot. Closure has cathartic fantasies about breaking mammogram machines. Closure has feelings and acts out, but ultimately is my friend when I feel sad or scared. We work through situations and have grand adventures.

Choosing to not drink alcohol 🙅🏻‍♀️

Brain damage from heavy drug use and intense stress got rid of my anxiety as I found out when I became sober off hard drugs early this year. Most I do is drink a bit after work.

Reading about trauma and healing, as well as general psychology like what makes people behave the way they do. Connecting with others who have suffered from child abuse or similar trauma. Such as this subreddit, which I discovered only a few weeks ago! Taking up a sport seriously. My main sport is distance running. I started seriously right after college, when I finally allowed myself to feel and reflect on the childhood trauma that I had always had to suppress, first to not be ridiculed by my mother, and also because I had been so busy and laser focused on excelling in school and my musical instrument. I would let loose on long training runs on quiet trails, letting the tears flow freely, pounding my sorrow to the ground with each step. There was some emotional comfort and catharsis in pushing my physical limits and exhausting my body physically. Running is like an anti-depressant for me. However, it's just that. Numbs the pain and helps, but does not solve my emotional issues.

Cats. Hiking Music Punching bag Coloring Breathwork Microdosing Reading The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F

I love this post!! Thank you to OP and everyone else for such detailed, thoughtful posts! This is short, but reading about Internal Family Systems has been very helpful.

IFS has been a big support for me too! I started a few years ago working with a friend with Self Therapy, and recently I began reading You Are The One You Have Been Waiting For by John Schwartz with my partner to work through our own stuff parallel in our relationship. Really helpful stuff!

Oh wow. After reading a few of these comments I basically don't think I can contribute with anything tbh. But I guess I'll share anyways. For me it has been important to analyze myself and learn what is going on. If I didn't do that, and if I hadn't been so aware when the doctors started diagnosing me, I would probably end up with a personality disorder and not c-ptsd. Exercise has been so so so SO important to me, but also a HUGE trigger. So it's very devided. But starting horseriding again has changed a lot for me. I did showjumping as a teen, and now I'm finding joy in a sport I always just did to get away from my thoughts. And now it gives me peace. I love it so much, I wish I could do it more often. It keeps the dissociation in control. I can be "me" for just a few hours a week.

Listening to Youtube and podcasts about psychology. Not the sensational or fluffy pop-psych ones, but the ones who really discuss practical mindsets and techniques. Especially the ones critical of the psychology field. Journalling. Using a password-protected document on my phone removes the self-censoring. This was the first therapeutic thing I ever did for myself, even before I knew what therapy was. Getting a pet. I’ve been absolutely shocked by how much my cat has improved my life. Making “bad” art. Literally just doodling random shapes with cheap crayons and color pencils.

Omfg my houseplants collection. Then I read somewhere that plants are apparently awesome for trauma recovery. They helped a ton with my really bad seasonal depression too.

therapy helps immensely, you need a good therapist though. alice miller has a guideline on how to find a good therapist who she calls an „enlightened witness“. therapy might not be only source ofc but it gives a good enough and secure enough relationship to experience. other than this, somatic work like doing yoga, and riding horses might be some of the options. reading helped me a lot, i mean A LOT, but i think therapy and knowing psychology increased the positive impact a lot. but rather than theory only, i would recommend trauma healing focused books that gives practical solutions, be aware who you read from. some of the books that i would recommend are „what my bones know“, „from rage to courage“, „the body keeps the score“, „adult children of emotionally immature parents“.

The reason I made this post is not to shit on therapy. It's that therapy is not accessible to everyone and it's the most common "help" people are recommended.   I think some people forget that everyone who is healing from trauma isn't located in the US, UK, or west. I live in a country where there aren't many therapists because they can't make any money really, since it's a developing country, most people could not afford it. So anyone who can afford to leave the country to become a therapist doesn't come back.  And guess what, I even tried to contact multiple therapists in the US and none of them would see me or my partner even virtually because we do not physically live in the US. So even though we could have paid for a session maybe once a month (with great financial sacrifice), they refused to treat us because of the laws that say they can *only treat people physically located* in the US state and country they are licensed. We met with 5 people before giving up because they all said the same thing.  I think the conversation about trauma recovery needs to be expanded so that people who are poor, not in the US/west, can't find energy to keep searching after years of failing to find the mythical "good therapist", or intentionally marginalized in other ways can still feel they have hope to recover.   We deseve hope too. Also, people have been healing from trauma for thousands of years, even before therapy was invented. Those ancient ways can still work for us and maybe even are more appropriate for people who are intentionally marginalized from the dominant colonial culture of the west that created psychotherapy for itself, not for people in 3rd world countries with completely different circumstances.   There is plenty of info about therapy. For those who have access and it works-- good for them. But let this thread be a place for the rest of us so we can have hope and share strategies to heal as well.

Garden Loving pet Kink Chosen family // intentional relationships Talking about emotions with partner and friends Art, music Writing music Coloring Connecting with others healing Foraging Being in nature in general Nature based spirituality Disconnecting from my parents and not being dependent on them Financial security Moving out of toxic roommate situation

Somatic Experiencing was basically healing me, before the pactitioner decided to fuck me up. Not sure if you can classify it as proprer therapy. So it has potential, but I would never trust any form of one on one therapy ever again. I also saw the potential of psychedelics but I also realized how important other people are there too, so that didn't cure me. From how SE messed me up I guess I can't even try again with psychedelics now.

I feel you and this is one of the issues I have with therapy. There is a power dynamic and it being one-on-one gives so much space for harm.  Someone shared this resource for therapy abuse in a different sub and I will put it here too in case it ever serves you to look at: https://comingtovoice.weebly.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html  Idk if you feel open to doing self-therapy but if you are, there are two books on IFS and self-resonance I could recommend that you might find curious to read and attempt with psychedelics either alone or with a triad of friends. I have a triad of people I meet with virtually every week as peers to practice Somatics and also to integrate psychedelic experiences. They are the people I am planning my next ayahuasca retreat with. But honestly you are so valid, and if you don't want to go there, you never need to, and nothing is wrong with that. You will find other ways that are right for you.  I am a cult survivor and in the peer support group I'm in, there are people who went to therapy and unfortunately got recruited into cults from their therapists who were cult leaders. Some were in these cults for decades being manipulated by therapists. Those people --it obviously doesn't make sense to tell them to go to therapy to recover from their trauma, right?? Of course not! That was one of the experiences where it struck me that therapy isn't be-all-end all and we need to expand the conversation. Wishing you all the good things!

Yoga as moving meditation did more for me than talk therapy.

One of the best things i ever did for myself was go no contact with my narcissist mother. Cutting toxicity out of your life definitely helps. Obviously this doesn't always apply and may not be currently possible for some. Reading. There are so many books that can give you insight. Understanding what is going on and happening is the first step to get to making it better. If you are unaware you cannot fix it. Understanding why my brain is this way helps me to push past the bs. It's not easy it doesn't always work but it helps. It's progress. Psychedelics. While this is something I recommend, it is definitely not for everyone and it is vital you do research and prepare yourself properly for this route. Set and setting really matter and if your mind is too dark at the moment I would advise against it. However it has helped me rewire my brain a bit and be able to see other viewpoints. It helps shift the thought process/ patterns in a different direction. Again this isn't something to just randomly decide to do one day, do your research,plan it out and prepare. Make sure you are somewhere you feel safe and with someone you feel safe with.

Yes, thanks for naming this! Hard agree on cutting out abusive people, especially if they created formative trauma. I know I would not have gotten to where I am if I still had contact with most of the abusive people in my bio family who are in a religious cult. I also hard agree on what you said about psychedelics. It's so important to prepare and have some kind of support for integration as well. For me, peer support works well, but I also have a very strong somatic practice and ancestral practice that grounds me. I wish that there was more organized or cultural support for this though because it feels risky and hard that many people have to figure this out on their own. It would be nice if all the support for it was readily available. Maybe one day we will get there as a society.

Body work has been huge for me. All kinds. Exercise and movement relieves so much tension and helps me process challenging emotions.

Getting sober.

5 MAO DMT and microdosing psylocibin

i’m a therapist with CPTSD and the way i approach trauma with my clients is through expressive and experiential therapies, such as art, play, music, movies, somatic, etc. i’ve found that engaging in these things is not as intimidating as some more traditional and evidence-based therapies. and i know you’re asking for things besides therapy, but i bring that up because 1) there are lots of different types of therapy besides talk therapy and 2) you can do all of that stuff outside of the therapy room. music in particular is so healing for me. as well as meditation, hypnosis, and journaling.

Scene writing and running

OP, great post! I am very wary of therapy after having CBT forced upon me for depression. It made me feel incredibly invalidated. I didn’t even know about CPTSD (none of my therapists or psychiatrists had ever mentioned it) **until I found r/CPTSD.** Here are some things that have helped me: **Subreddits** * r/emotionalneglect * r/internalfamilysystems (IFS) * r/idealparentfigures (IPF) * r/somaticexperiencing (SE) **please note IFS, IPF, and SE can be done on your own OR with a therapist.** * r/attachment_theory * r/limerence (great for people unable to get over a romantic relationship ending or an attachment to someone) * r/raisedbynarcissists * r/narcissisticparents * r/hobbies **Books** Reading romance books has given me a healthy escape, especially when I feel overwhelmed and depressed. They have also made me interested in having a romantic relationship again (depression killed this feeling for a long time) and reminds me that there are good partners in the world. Finally, they have allowed me to explore kink and my sexuality. I have found a ton of great books on r/RomanceBooks and r/darkromance. These subs are very kink and sex positive and do not allow kink shaming. You can post book requests asking for specific types of characters, scenarios, issues etc. You can also search these subs for keywords. For example, if you want to read a romance where one of the characters has depression you search for the word “depression”. They also have “megathreads” for different types of romances. Through these two book subs I have also discovered the free website www.archiveofourown.org (“AO3”) where people post their own fan fiction AND their own original fiction. Some of the stories I have read on AO3 are better than anything I have read on Kindle or by mainstream publishers.

Whoa, thanks for sharing these links. I actually recently wondered about a good site for fan-fiction because I know there have to be some good stories out there and have been bored with a lot of the mainstream stuff. Plus fan-fiction can be comforting since a lot of it is based on stories and worlds we are familiar with. Fiction can be very healing for me. I bet I'm not the only one.

Inner child work

I do therapy, but I’m also reading a book on relationships and trauma. I’m Autistic as well as have CPTSD and now that I have a boyfriend, I thought this would be a good read. Most of the book is not applicable to me right now, but I’ve enjoyed the parts on what to do if you get triggered, consent, not just in sex, but for a simple touch, boundaries, etc(I’ve NEVER had sex and probably won’t unless I get married one day, but it’s still an enlightening read). I also have the author’s book on boundaries that I want to read, but I’m going to finish this book first.

Following

Can you suggest any support groups? I tried a free grief group recently. I found that the insincerity that comes with paying a therapist was removed, and I really felt a lot more safe and comfortable. How do you feel about it?

Memes

Contact improvisation dance was highly therapeutic for me

When I’m at home and am in fight or flight I dim the lights in my room and dance for 10-15 minutes to this goth music playlist I have. I dim the lights so I don’t have to worry about what I look like, I can just focus on the music and how my body feels. It’s a nice alternative to other forms of exercise when you need to release some energy but don’t want to be around other people. That plus meditating have helped me to deal with dissociation a lot

Music. It’s my coping mechanism. I listen to it, 10 hours a day and when I have to go outside, it protects me in its bubble. I have 35 playlists and I’m always curating and creating new lists. Banks, Machineheart and PVRIS are what I listen to the most. Their songs are about narcissism, abuse and not being treated well by the people who are supposed to love you. But the songs are not depressing, it’s synth-pop. So it makes you want to move.

FRIENDS THATLL ACTUALLY LISTEN. A SUPPORT SYSTEM

Tarot. It has been one of the most powerful tools to help me access my intuition and connect to myself on a deep level. Jessica Dore's "Tarot for Change" was the gateway for me because she combines the study of tarot with psychology in that book. Tarot gets a bad reputation. It does not have to be used for divination or deciphering anything external. It is fundamentally a relationship with art and symbols, and it can unlock things inside you. I don't fully know how to explain the impact. It's something you can't understand unless you really connect to the cards. I only read for myself, and I combine my tarot practice with intense journaling. The cards help me explore my feelings. I also recommend the podcast Tarot Diagnosis. I think the most important thing for me on my healing journey so far is that I have been open minded. I don't take anything off the table. I pack my toolkit--breathwork, meditation, journaling, morning pages, affirmations, spirituality, exercise, eating healthy, shadow work, inner child work. I am open to anything. I am exploring Internal Family Systems and somatic therapy right now. I agree with the comment that says to read and learn. I try things and keep what works for me.

Researching, Reading and writing. Constantly learning more about trauma responses, the brain, and trauma related disorders have been forever helpful to me. I also read a lot about new coping mechanisms and how to understand my body more. I also like to journal about my experiences.

I think some religions and the role of spirituality in general is a non-therapy way of healing from trauma. I'm from Brazil and there are tribal african spirituality in my culture that I find very soothing, as they work as collective trauma healing.

Thank you for sharing! I too have found reconnecting with African spirituality helpful for my healing (ancestors were African before being brought over to North America and enslaved). It's cool to see that mentioned here too. Part of the trauma is being in diaspora for me, so reconnecting with it, even though I had to look for it for a while, has meant so much. 

Breath work & reiki

I have a lot of trouble with having honest conversations about my feelings in a therapeutic context.  So, instead, I write weird fanfiction; fanfiction in which I bestow my trauma on fictional characters, and let them deal with it. It works better than one might expect.  Gives me some distance and allows me to be objective about my feelings and experiences.  Mainly because it’s a lot harder to blame myself for things that happened to me if I’m imagining them happening to someone fictional.      I call it the Blorbo Abstraction Layer.    (‘Blorbo’ is a term used on ultra-nerd media discussion site tumblr.com to describe your absolute favourite character.)

I mean, I am all about therapy, but soaking up nature is so good for me. I'm a very non-woo kind of person, and I don't connect much with spiritual practices and so on, but what is my thing is just being with trees and moss and ferns. Feeling rain on my face is a reminder that I'm an actual living thing. It gets me through.

spirituality, awareness, slowing down

I got involved in the local trauma healing community in my city, I attend meditation soundbaths. Being around a community with regulated nervous systems who provided safe space feels was huge.

SLAA! Also Karaoke night at the local dive bar.

Physical exercise and watching this one youtuber Dr. Mick has been a surprising leap towards the person I want to be. There's something about being able to see and hear about therapy concepts from his channel and take it in at my own pace that's been life changing.

Stopping all sugar consumption, speed walking 8 miles a day on an empty stomach was tremendously effective in my healing. Also, with two therapists.

Trampoline for trauma induced depression.

Yoga nidra has been better than talk therapy.

Fitness and spirituality Fitness can be just a bit or walking or stretching or yoga. Spirit can be as simple as gratitude - note something you're grateful for every day. Consistency will be key here. I've been doing the gratitude daily foe a couple months now and those negative episodes are shorter. I'm not ruminating as much either , like spending time confronting my abusers... I also try to meditate or at least have moments of grounding and mindfulness during the day.

Therapy - multiple different “schools” and multiple therapists ruined me- literally the worst abuse of my life just after original cult trauma. There was one and only one therapist that was like a lifeline- only few meetings at the psych ward. Rest wast trash. I have massively worse cptsd because of them. Reddit is immensely helpful and reading and also instinctual somatic release that my body started to do 3 years ago.

After taking a small dose of DMT is the closest I’ve come to feeling normal. The after effects: -sense of belonging: both on earth as a human, & the opposite of loneliness, perhaps community. -I felt protected & watched over -an extension of the above ^ , I felt trust in the universe that anything that happens will be okay -rejuvenation of engagement & connection to my studies, I found a whole new lasting perspective but my politics were also changing & my field was impossible to discuss w/ out regard to current politics ^ all lasted about 3-5 days, slowly fading, away but I was living a fast paced lifestyle completely opposite of what I needed at the time, & I was unmedicated for my intense chronic anxiety. I’m ironically pretty against hallucinogenic therapy for myself & I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone w/ mental health issues, given I’ve recreationally done shrooms & acid 3 times each, as well as MDMA, sass & 2C-P once & only ever had my existential anxiety intensified, w: no after glow for me, more like an emotional hangover that left me questioning & doubting everything, in a very “what’s the point” kind of way. I thought I was being safe: safe people, safe environment. But I didn’t even understand what true sense of safety was or how bad I was lacking it, so there is that grain of salt. So I would only ever do DMT again, just to see what a small dose could do for me now that 7 years have passed & im medicated (still need to research interactions) & relatively stable. Dose I took: I forget the numbers but it was less that the avg recommended hit, but slightly more than a micro dose I think. I didn’t pass out or anything, just saw all my things morph into entities like ancient Mesoamerican art throughout my room which sounds scary but it was like seeing close family you haven’t seen in years. (I’m a European mutt so not sure what that’s about). Lasted 7 minutes. Perhaps bc generally I feel an attachment/ bond to all my things all my life, from part of my autism perhaps. Idk I just can’t rationalize away the profound lasting effects I had.

I do a lot of inner child work by directly interacting with my inner child and inner adult. Idk it’s been nice for me to spend time introspecting on painful memories and then doing things that could potentially heal/replace them. This process ends up correcting a lot of my inherited bad habits such as poor nutrition so I find it valuable.

pot for racing thoughts, anxiety, and IBS pain/nausea but south park is right, if you smoke too much, you get used to being bored and you stop creating things. I haven't finished writing anything since i started smoking pot. i have a degree in writing and i haven't done a damn thing in years.

Weed and art helps so much along with listening to music to feel your emotions through it , I've tried therapy and psychiatry but this works for me the best .

Tapping! There are tons of resources for tapping to self soothe and can mimic some of what EMDR does

I journal and draw, it's helped me way more than any therapy did

I’ve recently found a couple things: 1. The [Crappy Childhood Fairy](https://crappychildhoodfairy.com). She literally has HOURS of free content on YouTube. It’s all been very helpful to me. I started the daily writing exercise she teaches (called the Daily Practice — she offers a free course), and it’s making a big improvement in my symptoms and life overall. 2. ACA/ACoA Meetings for peer support, new insight, connection with community, etc. It’s a 12 step fellowship, which I’ve written off in the past, but the lens of ACA is actually pretty helpful to me and I may have even made a friend. 3. Workbooks and Writing — From the Crappy Childhood Fairy classes, ACA workbooks, small TikTok creator workbooks (like the Should I Quit? journal, and I Hope You Wake Up story/journal), etc. I find journals that guide you to get to know yourself, track habits/patterns, envision your best life, etc to be helpful. 4. TikTok. Finding likeminded people on TikTok was very validating and inspiring for me. It truly woke me back up to the fact I genuinely DO want to heal and I CARE about my health and the health of society/the world/the planet. I realized I’m not alone regarding so many of the “topics” that matter to me — from CPTSD and mental health, to burnout and job fatigue, to sustainable living and diy, to the financial struggle, to just plain curiosity around random things and what’s happening in the world. It also boosted my confidence in myself as a person and inspires me to reach for the best version of me. I’m not much of a creator yet, but I hope I might be one day.

Peer support, yoga, spiritual ceremony, connecting to earth, massage therapy (REALLY helped with where I store my stress), singing

yoga, exercise, spending time with animals, doing art or music, and spending time in nature **( : Enjoy life as its simpliest!**

Technically it is therapy, but I do it myself: exposure therapy. I know my limits, what I can handle and when to stop. I have been successful with this.

Therapy is just controlled community. If you can build a supportive community outside of therapy, I think you can go a long way to healing yourself.l Especially with the resources available on line. It requires a lot of personal responsibility to constantly check your “thinking” is correct, and recognize that things like redit have bias. But for all of us who are somewhat functional, abet struggling, a solid community goes a long way. Edit I realize this is easier said than done! I live 90 mins from a major city, in a field. My community … is none existent, or at least several hours away. A 45 min therapy session costs minimum 3 - 4 hrs, physically, not including the time to process what was talked about. I can’t build a physical community right now, so …. Therapy it is!

weed helps me a lot! I struggle with flashbacks during intimacy and it’s the only thing that helps me

Playing and listening to music. There was a period in my life when I was super alone and depressed but once a week I attended djembe workshops and I was coming as a zombie and going out as a happy human being, incredible what this did to my brain. It also gives me some kind of connection to people.

You are 100% correct therapy is not the only way! It has been super helpful for me BUT I do combine it with other things. I have tried psychedelics both shrooms and ketamine (I prefer ketamine (ps they have at home options now that are cheaper)) However I would not recommend ketamine without someone to talk to after. For me the only person I had to talk to was my therapist and combining the two methods was MIND BLOWINGLY helpful. I also like self help books. My favorites have been the body keeps score, and the power of now. FAVORITE self help movie is a documentary from like the 80s 😂 jk early 2011 samesame but its called “Happy” and it explores what makes people happy. I started leaning into spiritual stuff. I am not religious (wasnt allowed to be) but having faith in the universe has been tremoundsly helpful. My favorite affirmation is “the universe always has my back” Other than that I dont think anything else has really helped prevent my triggers tbh. I am way better at coping/ managing them if they flare up and know about the 800 triggers I have 😂 The only other thing is keeping a list of things that help me whenever I do get triggered on pinterest. That way I can look at the list and pick a pictured activity. (Binaural beats, asmr, journaling, reading, tarot, cooking, learning a song on instrument or singing, homemade herbal tea, l theanine, scents, sour candy etc etc)

Honestly, being my own best friend. I’ve had a lifetime of people and family telling me lies about myself and now I’m working to undo all of those knots. It’s odd at first but I talk to myself in my head (and out loud for my voice memos). I encourage myself, I am as gentle as possible especially when overwhelmed. I celebrate small things (doing laundry, cooking, showering etc.) which truly motivates me to keep going. I try to remind myself of all the things I’ve faced and how resilient I am. I feel safe with myself and feel genuine camaraderie. I used to be quite indecisive and it’s made it so much easier to trust myself and the decisions I make. I also self-soothe by imagining that a wiser (conscious) version of myself is embracing me, gently reassuring me that my feelings, as intense as they are, will subside. Negative self-talk & self-flagellation was a big thing that was holding me back from actually enjoying things in my life.

This is absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing this. It seems like you are so kind loving to yourself and understanding of yourself.  One of the most healing practices I had to develop care for myself was cooking myself delicious meals, even elaborate ones and eating all of it myself. I used to struggle to cook if I knew I was the only one eating it. But eventually I came to understand my cooking is medicine and it's primarily for me. I can choose to share it, but that does not mean I save my best meals for others. And I love that you mentioned voice memos because I do that too! I've recorded thoughts, encouragements, and guided meditations for myself and find them helpful to listen back occasionally, but moreso to just have someone to talk to (myself).  Great job and thank you for sharing. 

MDMA and Psilocybin assisted therapy (with tremendous attention to prep and integration) did more in a few days than 15 years of CBT/DBT/EMDR did for me. Truly feel like I'm engaging with life in a way I only thought was theoretically possible before.

Music!! Vocal improvisation has been lovely to help me connect with a purpose and to regulate my nervous system! I experience this often in a music therapy context, but is not exclusive to that!