Dating While Healing — Self-Check

Pause. Breathe. Answer honestly. No explanations required. 🧠 Nervous System Check If calm feels “boring” or unsettling, that may be trauma, not incompatibility. ❤️ Attachment Check Healthy attraction grows; trauma attachment accelerates. 🧱 Boundary Check If a boundary feels like rejection, pause — that’s old wiring speaking. 🪞Self-Respect Check Connection should expand you, not eclipse… Read More Dating While Healing — Self-Check

Self-Assessment: Do I Stay — or Do I Leave?

This questionnaire is not about making a decision today.It’s about clarity.Answer each question with Yes / Sometimes / No. Safety First Effort vs Outcome Change & Accountability Impact on You Boundaries Love vs Fear Future Reality Check Quiet Interpretation You do not leave because you didn’t try hard enough.You leave when staying requires you to betray yourself.… Read More Self-Assessment: Do I Stay — or Do I Leave?

Self-Assessment: When You’re Not Sure If It’s Them — or You

This questionnaire is for moments of doubt.Answer each question with Yes / Sometimes / No.Notice patterns, not perfection. How You Feel Inside Self-Doubt & Blame Communication Patterns Boundaries & Needs Sense of Self Outside Perspective Reality Check Quiet Interpretation If you were the problem, clarity would come with effort.If the dynamic is the problem, confusion persists… Read More Self-Assessment: When You’re Not Sure If It’s Them — or You

“What the hell did you ever see in him?”

It’s been another full, nourishing week with my bestie and family — the kind filled with long, unhurried conversations that stretch late into the evening. We talked about school, teenagers, work, growing up, and the strange passage of time. About responsibilities that multiply, roles that shift, and the quiet weight of experience. And yet, threaded… Read More “What the hell did you ever see in him?”

Three phases of a nervous system exiting captivity.

PHASE 1: DETACHMENT (While still inside, or immediately after leaving) Primary function: Survival efficiencyDominant system: Autonomic nervous system (freeze → controlled shutdown) What’s happening internally This is when people say: They haven’t.They’ve gone offline. Key marker (this is important): You stop explaining yourself — even in your own head. Once justification disappears, detachment has begun. PHASE 2: GRIEF (Only once… Read More Three phases of a nervous system exiting captivity.

WHY YOUR STRENGTH WAS USED AGAINST YOU

(and why that does NOT mean it wasn’t strength) PART 1: HOW STRENGTH BECAME A CONTROL LEVER 1. Responsibility → Exploitation Your strength:• You take responsibility• You don’t abandon people lightly• You problem-solve instead of panicking How it was used:• Responsibility was transferred onto you• His instability became your job to manage• Collapse was framed as something you… Read More WHY YOUR STRENGTH WAS USED AGAINST YOU

You are not refusing truth — you are refusing harm

✅ DO — Protect yourself while acting responsibly 🧠 Nervous system first 📩 Communication 📁 Information handling ⚖️ Responsibility 🌱 Aftercare 🚫 DON’T — Avoid what harms recovery ❌ Engagement ❌ Emotional load ❌ Cognitive traps ❌ Role confusion ❌ Self-betrayal thoughts to notice (not obey) These are trauma-conditioned empathy reflexes, not obligations. 🧩 One-sentence response… Read More You are not refusing truth — you are refusing harm

When Families Know About Abuse

One of the reasons many survivors don’t speak out sooner is simple:they already know they won’t be supported. In some families, the abuse isn’t a secret.It has been seen before.Hints have been dropped.Incidents have been witnessed, minimised, or quietly explained away. Instead of intervening, the family: This silence isn’t neutral.It’s a choice. Why This Keeps… Read More When Families Know About Abuse

In Simple Terms: What’s Actually Going On

This isn’t new behaviour.It’s the same pattern that’s been happening for decades — just playing out in a different way. When someone ignores divorce proceedings, doesn’t respond to solicitors, blocks the sale of a house, removes signs, and then later blames or sues you for delays — that isn’t confusion or bad communication. It’s control.… Read More In Simple Terms: What’s Actually Going On

Reclaiming the Paperwork — and the Truth

As I prepare for divorce, I have had to replace every single legal document I need.Passports, certificates, records — all of the originals were taken long ago. They were kept in a briefcase I was never allowed to open or touch.Money and documents stored away before we were even married. On the surface, this looks like administration.Psychologically, it… Read More Reclaiming the Paperwork — and the Truth