It’s been a while. Between waiting for my new laptop, public access training with Azula, The Wisdom of Trauma courses, the International Trauma Research and Recovery Network, writing project proposals, trying to get information from organizations and having houseguests, writing took a backseat. Especially the public access training took its toll. For someone who suffers from hypervigilance and body armoring, being out and about is incredibly tiring. But this training is necessary in order for me to be able to (hopefully) one day be able to get treatment abroad. Body armoring flare up – a sudden trigger After the past…
Tag: trauma
The Wisdom of Trauma featuring Gabor Maté Recommended Watch
This week I watched The Wisdom of Trauma featuring Gabor Maté. Maté is a Canadian physician, renowned speaker and author, who is a well known expert in the trauma community. His compassion, research and knowledge of topics such as addiction and the effects of childhood trauma on both the body and the mind, is vast, and he has the ability to talk about incredibly complex and difficult subject matter in understandable and relatable ways. I urge anyone who’s interested in trauma and trauma recovery to watch The Wisdom of Trauma. Whether you are a medical professional, a trauma survivor, an…
Sometimes you’ve got to force the issue
Week in Review 8 – Sometimes you’ve got to force the issue. I really don’t like it, but sometimes you’ve got to stand up for yourself. And force people to take notice. It goes against my nature, but if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Jeffry Stijn Foundation We finally got our draft articles of incorporation. It’s riddled with errors, but at least we’re in the final stages of the legal basis of the foundation. I got my draft articles of incorporation for Just A regular Julie before the Foundation’s. Even though I started that process…
The Body Keeps The Score 2 – Lessons from Vietnam Vets
Chapter 1 – Lessons from Vietnam Vets The Body Keeps the Score 2. Yesterday I started reading The Body Keeps the Score and keeping a journal of what touches and triggers me as I read. I’ve just finished reading Chapter 1. I’m tense, shaking, anxious. My brain feels like mud. And grief is battering at my dam of numbness. It’s a terrible and odd sensation. My instinct is to turn away from it. To keep the grief at bay no matter the cost. For an endless few moments tears stream down my face, and then my brain does what it…
The Body Keeps the Score & Healing Trauma: A First Step
Over the past 4 and a half years I have been slowly but surely learning about complex trauma and complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. During that journey, one of the names that consistently kept popping up in articles, dissertations and studies was Bessel van der Kolk, MD. One of the first things that caught my eye was that ‘van der Kolk’ is a very Dutch name. I put his book “The Body Keeps The Score” on my list of books to purchase once I was well enough to start reading again. And stuck to various articles and studies van der Kolk…
We’re Attending the 34th Annual Boston International Trauma Conference
Thanks to a scholarship from the Trauma Research Foundation, Dr. Fleur and I will be attending the 34th Annual Boston International Trauma Conference virtually. Its theme is Psychological Trauma: Neuroscience, Embodiment And The Restoration Of The Self. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to expand our knowledge where psychological trauma is concerned. Stay tuned for our take on the following subjects! 17 May 2023 7 pm- 9 pm EDT Screening From Shock to Awe. This award-winning documentary chronicles the experience of two combat veterans who engage in the therapeutic use of psychedelic agents to heal. Virtual Live Q&A with Producer Janine Sagert…
Complaint Respaldo
When I first started at Respaldo, Aruba’s National Mental Health Foundation, I was immediately informed that there probably wouldn’t be fitting treatment for me here on the island. That I’d have to move abroad. Or try to get sent abroad for medical treatment. I was informed that the chances of that happening would be pretty much non-existent. As residential mobility is my root, unresolved and as yet still untreated trauma, I decided to go for the latter option. Why add to an already existing trauma and make myself worse, when there is another option? One that would allow me to…
Week in Review 3 – back to basics
The past few days have all been about going back to basics. Basic explanations about incredibly complex subjects. Basic ideas that will be the cornerstones of the Jeffry Stijn Foundation for Mental Health and Patient Advocacy. And the basic fact that I really need to put my mental health first, and consciously focus on self-care. Back to basics: Providing information I’ve been focusing a lot on providing basic information about incredibly complex subjects. After things like the difference between mental health and mental illness in general, then delving into the basics of mental illness, now it’s time to try and…
Why do I write about mental illness and trauma?
Why do I write about mental illness and trauma? I’ve been asked that a lot lately. Most people appreciate the information, but don’t really understand why I write. “Shouldn’t you be…?” followed by a huge list of things they think I need to do, or “isn’t too painful?”, they ask. And just like I wrote in my review of Broken by Jenny Lawson, aka the Bloggess, yes there are things that are probably more “useful”, but writing is necessary for my mental health. It’s a way to cope with my mental illness. “Wait a minute,” some of you might think….
