How do you remain hopeful when your survivor-partner is struggling? What a question! One with which I am well acquainted. Here’s the thing. I am not always hopeful. A recent challenge brought this front and…
It happened again. About one month ago, there was a clear decline in my husband’s mental health. Truthfully, the decline had been happening for a while, but it was obvious he needed medical help. Our…
If you’ve been reading my blog posts for a while, you’ll know the topic of self-care is really important to me. It’s important because as a partner to a survivor, I know the high risk…
As I write this, things are hard at home. My husband is struggling and so am I. 2018 was a challenging year and I feel discouraged. About ten days ago, I went out for one…
Making sense of complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is hard. As a partner to a man with C-PTSD, I struggle. Some things just don’t make sense. When I discover a clear quote that summarizes a key…
There are costs to loving a trauma survivor. I know this statement may come across as or unsupportive, insensitive, or unkind. But despite the potential misinterpretations of this statement, it still needs to be said. There are…
What do partners of survivors read? Over the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with many partners of survivors. What I’ve learned is that partners are avid readers. We read for inspiration. We…
Last week was lost to trauma.* The days and hours of the second week of September passed and the dates on the calendar changed but, in our home, all activities outside of navigating my husband’s…
My husband’s developmental trauma changed me. Seven years ago, my husband of twenty years began to experience a series of visual flashbacks. These emerging memories pointed to a very different childhood than he had previously remembered.…
Who are your bridge people? It’s been one year since our house sold and we picked up and moved to Eastern Canada. It’s been a year of change, new people and places, challenges, and disappointments.…
Do the stories of partners of survivors matter? I tucked this question into my laptop bag and entered the doors of Humber College summer writing school this past July. I had submitted fifteen pages of…