Growing up in a dysfunctional family completely changes the way we relate to the world, the way we behave and feel in relationships, the way we regulate our emotions and how secure we feel in ourselves.
Although I have talked about the traits of a narcissist in an older video, I wanted to do an updated video on this which you can view below.
Love Athina ❤
Dealing with a pandemic of this magnitude, we are all understandably becoming anxious and uncertain about the future.
All the little things that consumed our life previously are no longer as important.
There is a new reality now.. One of survival, planning and isolating.
For those of you who are already living with C-PTSD, anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions, this time is especially triggering..
For those of you in the ‘at risk groups’, life can feel terrifying..
Here are a few tips that are keeping me sane and might help you too!
We are dealing with an unprecedented reality, it is normal to feel overwhelmed.
How are you coping with this in your country?
I hope you are looking after yourselves at this difficult time dear readers.
Just remember, we are all in this together!
Lots of love
Athina ♥♥
I wanted to share the great news that Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is recognised by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) eleventh revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11).
As someone who has openly spoken about living with the symptoms of CPTSD, it feels extremely validating to know that it is actually recognised formally. I wasn’t aware of this until very recently so for those of you who already knew this, please forgive my delayed discovery. For those of you who live with CPTSD and are aware of this, I hope this news finds you well.
In my personal opinion, a diagnosis of CPTSD could easily replace many other diagnoses. CPTSD is the result of child abuse, neglect and any other prolonged and repeated traumatic experiences.
Symptoms of anxiety and depression are in most cases part of having CPTSD, as well as the following (in the context of childhood trauma & abuse).
”Attachment – problems with relationship boundaries, lack of trust, social isolation, difficulty perceiving and responding to others’ emotional states”
”Biology – sensory-motor developmental dysfunction, sensory-integration difficulties, somatization, and increased medical problems”
”Affect or emotional regulation – poor affect regulation, difficulty identifying and expressing emotions and internal states, and difficulties communicating needs, wants, and wishes”
”Dissociation – amnesia, depersonalization, discrete states of consciousness with discrete memories, affect, and functioning, and impaired memory for state-based events
”Behavioural control – “problems with impulse control, aggression, pathological self-soothing, and sleep problems”
”Cognition – difficulty regulating attention; problems with a variety of ‘executive functions’ such as planning, judgement, initiation, use of materials, and self-monitoring; difficulty processing new information; difficulty focusing and completing tasks; poor object constancy; problems with ’cause-effect’ thinking; and language developmental problems such as a gap between receptive and expressive communication abilities.”
”Self-concept – fragmented and disconnected autobiographical narrative, disturbed body image, low self-esteem, excessive shame, and negative internal working models of self”.
Formal recognition and diagnosis will greatly help CPTSD sufferers with more appropriate treatment options:
Some current treatments are:
It is also worth mentioning that CPTSD has also been referred to as DESNOS (Disorders of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified).
DTD (Developmental trauma disorder) is also proposed as the alternative equivalent to childhood CPTSD.
”Dr. Judith Lewis Herman, in her book, Trauma and Recovery, proposed that a complex trauma recovery model that occurs in three stages:
If you live with CPTSD and have had experience with any of the above treatment options, I would love to hear what you found helpful.
Thanks for reading
This blog post includes direct text from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_post-traumatic_stress_disorder
Love Athina ♥♥
Oversharing is something that I have also been guilty of on more than one occasion.
Why do many of us overshare whereas most people only share what is necessary when meeting new people?
In the video below, I explain a little bit about oversharing and why we do it.
Love Athina ♥
Wishing you all a wonderful festive season! To those of you who may be grieving or finding this time of year hard, please know you are not alone. Wishing you courage, love and warmth to soothe your soul!
Much love
Athina ♥♥
Just a quick post to update you on what I am up to at the moment. I am currently studying my first Counselling module with the Open University alongside my work. I am very excited about this and hoping to complete a whole Diploma in Counselling or a full on Bachelors. I am studying separate modules at a time, which enables me to be more flexible in my choices.
I am still making youtube videos on my channel and also still taking on new clients for coaching.
I have a few new coaching options now, which include 30 min coaching sessions instead of hourly sessions. You can find these new options here: https://couragecoaching.net/availabilitycost/
My latest video is based on Dependent Personality disorder.
A lot of survivors of narcissistic abuse can sometimes develop this disorder or at least have a lot of the symptoms present.
Infantilization by parents and/or early loss or abandonment can cause Dependent Personality.
If you can relate, then please feel free to comment or share this video!
Much love to you all!
♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here
Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others.
Emotional intelligence is the one part of the human psyche that we can develop and improve by learning and practising new skills.
My newest video on my youtube channel, talks about emotional intelligence in more detail.
Love Athina ♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
A lot of research has gone into this video which has a questionnaire about helping people identify whether they might be suffering with CPTSD. I set up a poll on my youtube page, asking my subscribers to choose a video topic out of 4 options and this video was the most popular choice.
As I myself have answered ‘Yes’ to around 34 out of the 40 questions on this questionnaire and have also been diagnosed with CPTSD from 3 different therapists, I know that this questionnaire is very accurate. I created it to help my clients feel validated and to provide a stepping stone in the right direction towards their healing journey.
It is highly important to stress that there are 2 different types of abuse that a child can suffer in their family home. Overt abuse and covert abuse. Most abuse survivors, who have experienced a combination of these 2 types of abuse, will answer ‘YES’ to all 40 questions and will have all CPTSD symptoms, as well as visual, physical and other sensory flashbacks, along with extreme dissociation. Those survivors who have only suffered from covert abuse, also score high on this questionnaire (as much as 38 out of 40). This proves the severity of both types of abuse and sadly many therapists don’t take covert abuse seriously, when they should.
I wholeheartedly hope you find it helpful and if you think others will find it useful and validating, then please share this post as much as possible, .
Also please feel free to add your answers in the comments below this post, or on my youtube channel! Please specify whether you experienced overt abuse or covert abuse or both.
Thank you!
Love Athina ♥
Outsmarting the narcissist is important for your sanity and so you can feel in control of your life. Narcissists are experts at controlling your life with different manipulation tactics and they are very skilled at turning empaths into codependents.
This video will help those of you who deal with a covert narcissist, to feel empowered and strong again. The ‘deflect’ technique that I talk about in this video is especially good when dealing with a covert narcissist however isn’t advisable when dealing with a physically abusive narcissist.
Love Athina ♥
© All blog posts and images are owned by me and Courage Coaching. Please don’t use without consent and only re-blog if you would like to use the information on here.
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