Tag: mental health
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When The Silence Is Deafening
I’ve been writing on the internet since the Yahoo Geocities days—back when personal blogs were clunky, glittery, and filled with badly formatted text. I’ve poured my heart onto metaphorical paper for as long as I can remember, leaving pieces of myself in the digital ether, hoping my words might land somewhere, with someone. And yet,…
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The Three Stages of Trauma Recovery—And What They Look Like in Real Life
(Because Healing Isn’t Linear, No Matter What the Self-Help Books Say) When I first heard about the three stages of trauma recovery, I thought it was bullshit. Not because the concept didn’t make sense—it did—but because I was convinced I’d never make it past stage one. For those who aren’t familiar, trauma experts like Dr.…
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Healing Out Loud: Why Telling Our Stories Matters
“Healing out loud because I almost died in silence.” Breaking the Silence: The Power of Sharing Our Stories For years, I believed my story was something to be hidden—too heavy, too messy, too much for the world to handle. I convinced myself that silence was safer. That if I didn’t speak about my experiences, they…
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Post-Incarceration Syndrome and the Forgotten Survivors of the Troubled Teen Industry
The troubled teen industry (TTI) is a billion-dollar network of behavior modification programs, including wilderness therapy camps, therapeutic boarding schools, boot camps, and residential treatment centers. Marketed to desperate parents as a last resort for their struggling children, these programs promise transformation and healing. But as a survivor of the TTI myself, I can tell…
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Daring to Dream Again: Finding Hope After Trauma
For a long time, I didn’t let myself dream. Survival was the only goal. Dreaming still feels dangerous—like setting myself up for disappointment or failure. When you’ve spent years just trying to make it through the day, the idea of planning for a future, of imagining a life beyond the next crisis, feels foreign. Maybe…
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Why Rest Is Revolutionary for Trauma Survivors
“Pay mind to your own life, your own health, and wholeness. A bleeding heart is of no help to anyone if it bleeds to death.” Frederick Buechner About a week before publishing my memoir, my body reminded me who was really in charge. A health flare-up hit me like a tidal wave, leaving me alone…
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Letting Go of the Fear of Being Seen: A Survivor’s Journey to Visibility
For most of my life, I was conditioned to believe that being seen was dangerous. When you grow up in a household where truth is inconvenient, where survival depends on keeping up appearances, you learn to hide—not just from others, but from yourself. I learned this lesson young. Narcissistic parents have a way of controlling…
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Trying to Heal When You Can’t Afford to Break
Healing from trauma is a challenging journey, often hindered by financial, emotional, and environmental barriers. Survivors face high costs for therapy and alternative treatments, lacking adequate support systems. The process can feel disheartening as they navigate exploitation and limited options. Ultimately, healing should be accessible to all, not a privilege.
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Why the ACEs Study Changed Everything: A Breakdown of the Research
Let’s talk about one of the most important yet criminally underrated studies of our time: the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study. If you haven’t heard of it, don’t worry—you’re not alone. Despite its groundbreaking findings, it somehow never got the same PR treatment as, say, the Kardashians. But trust me, this study has shaped everything…
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Healing, but Still Hijacked: The Nervous System’s Betrayal
Healing is a nonlinear process, marked by ongoing battles with trauma and a body conditioned by past stress responses. Despite stabilizing adrenal function, my nervous system struggles with interpreting joy as danger. I’m learning to manage this response through pacing, grounding techniques, and reframing my experience, embracing healing’s complexities.
Jessica Woodville | Memoir & Musings 