Relationships & Recovery
Exploring how trauma, emotional abuse and difficult relationship experiences can affect the way we connect with others—and how healing can help rebuild trust, boundaries, self-worth, emotional safety and the ability to experience healthy, fulfilling relationships.
The feeling that “the universe is reading your mind” is surprisingly common, especially during periods of major life change, emotional upheaval, grief, recovery, or when people are actively searching for meaning and direction. From a neuroscience and psychology perspective, several processes can create this experience. Pattern Detection: The Brain’s Superpower The human brain evolved to… Read More Pattern Detection: The Brain’s Superpower
For much of my life, I believed that having an affair under any circumstances was completely wrong. It seemed like a clear-cut issue with no exceptions. However, after healing from abuse and working closely with psychologists and trauma specialists, my understanding of human behaviour has become far more nuanced. To be clear, this is not… Read More Understanding Why Some Women Seek Comfort Elsewhere During an Abusive Relationship
As I reflect on the last eighteen months, one word keeps coming to mind: gratitude. Not because the journey has been easy. It hasn’t. Not because every person I encountered treated me with kindness. They didn’t. But because every experience, every challenge, every disappointment, and every act of support revealed something important. I am grateful to… Read More Gratitude for the Lessons
There are moments in life when you look around and realise that, despite everything that has happened, you have made it through. This week was one of those moments for me. It was a week filled with simple pleasures and meaningful connections. Meals out at some wonderful restaurants, long conversations with friends, neighbours and special… Read More Living the Dream at Last: Eighteen Months of Letting Go and Moving Forward
“Not my circus, not my monkeys” is a phrase people often use when they emotionally step out of chaos, dysfunction, or other people’s drama. Psychologically, it reflects: boundary setting, emotional detachment, nervous system self-protection, and refusing responsibility for problems created by others. After long periods of conflict or emotional overload, the brain often shifts from:… Read More Not my circus, not my monkeys
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s capacity to change its structure and function in response to experience, learning, environment, and recovery. It is one of the most important discoveries in modern neuroscience because it shows that the brain is not fixed — it is continuously adapting. This includes: forming new neural pathways strengthening frequently used connections weakening… Read More NSDR: Non-Sleep Deep Rest
Complicated Grief refers to a persistent, intense, and often disabling form of grief where the natural healing process becomes stuck or delayed. The emotional pain remains acute for a long time and can interfere with daily functioning, identity, sleep, and emotional regulation. It is different from normal grief in that the intensity does not gradually… Read More Complicated Grief
Cortisol rhythms refer to the natural daily cycle of cortisol release in the body, which follows the body’s circadian rhythm. Cortisol is often called the “stress hormone,” but it is also essential for: energy regulation alertness immune function metabolism and helping the body respond to demands The Normal Cortisol Rhythm In a healthy pattern, cortisol follows… Read More The Normal Cortisol Rhythm
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about abusive or coercive relationships is that once the relationship ends, the danger automatically disappears. Unfortunately, psychology, neuroscience, and real-life experience often tell a very different story. For many people, separation and divorce are not the end of emotional pressure, intimidation, control, or fear. In fact, research consistently… Read More Protection Doesn’t End After Divorce — It Continues for Your Safety
Someone recently suggested I write a list of the pros and cons of my marriage. A healthy exercise, apparently.Balanced. Reflective. Therapeutic. So I sat down fully intending to be fair-minded and emotionally mature. I thought:“Come on, Linda. Thirty-two years. There must have been positives.” I made a cup of tea.Opened a notebook.Prepared myself for deep… Read More The Pros and Cons List That Went Wrong
