If you looked at the map above and thought, Okay, now we’re really inside this thing, you’re right. In the first Trauma Matrix article, we stepped back far enough to see the whole system. This time, we’re zooming into the part I’ve come to think of as the churn, where the five cognitive distortions of …
The Trauma Matrix Churn: How Five Cognitive Distortions Shape Your Life Read More »
If you looked at the Trauma Matrix map above and thought, What in the fresh heck am I looking at? I don’t blame you. It looks overwhelming because it’s showing you the full architecture all at once, with every pathway crossing into another problem that seems unrelated until you step back far enough to see …
What Is the Trauma Matrix? Read More »
If you’re thinking about writing your trauma memoir, I want you to hear this upfront — because nobody warned me, and it matters. Writing isn’t just “telling what happened.” Writing is where your brain starts replaying what happened. And that can be empowering… or destabilizing… depending on whether you’re prepared. Because when you start writing …
Writing Your Trauma Memoir: A Heal-Along With Jaena Read More »
If you’re struggling with reconstructing trauma timelines, here’s the truth survivors NEVER get told. You don’t need perfect memory or know every detail. And you don’t need a cinematic flashback with timestamps. You need — ready? —logic, emotional patterns, and a calm brain. This is Part 3 of my trauma timeline mapping series, where we …
Reconstructing Trauma Timelines: The Survivor’s Guide to Making Sense of Chaos Read More »
If you’ve landed here because you’re trying to make sense of scattered memories, welcome — you’re in the right place. This is Part 2 of my trauma timeline mapping series, where I teach survivors how to organize their fragments safely and without pressure. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, you can start here — …
Trauma Timeline Mapping: How to Organize Scattered Memories Read More »
If you’re dealing with trauma memory fragments, you’re not broken — you’re normal. Trauma doesn’t give us neat narratives. It gives us shards, snapshots, floating scenes, and half-memories with full emotions. The kind that feel too scattered to understand, too incomplete to share, and too overwhelming to organize. But here’s the truth no one tells …
How to Gather Your Trauma Memory Fragments Safely Read More »
There’s a quiet grumble happening across the survivor community. People aren’t quitting healing — they’re just tired of it. I call it the healing burnout. They’ve done everything right: therapy, journaling, EMDR, shadow work, yoga, IFS, affirmations, forgiveness lists, moon rituals, and enough inner child meditations to qualify for dual citizenship in 1989. And yet, …
Healing Burnout: Why You’re Tired of Doing the Work Read More »
When I first invited Steve to share his story, I had two reasons. Like my father, he had spent decades trapped in an abusive marriage — but unlike my father, he finally got out. And at the time, he was undergoing transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for treatment-resistant depression, a major step in his own hope …
The Brain That Tried to Die: Hope Circuitry and Trauma Recovery Read More »
“They told me gaining 60 pounds in a month was ‘within the realm of normal.’”That’s what Gwen was told after she begged for answers. She ate one meal a day. She returned to the doctor again and again, insisting something was wrong. But like so many trauma survivors misdiagnosed by doctors, she was told her …
“Your Labs Are Normal”: How Doctors Are Misdiagnosing Trauma Survivors Read More »
Let’s clear up a popular lie in trauma recovery: “If it works, just keep doing it.” Sounds good… until it stops working. And suddenly, you feel broken again. But here’s the truth: Your nervous system isn’t static—so your healing strategy can’t be either. That’s why building a trauma healing rhythm is so crucial. You’re not …
How to Create a Trauma Healing Rhythm That Works Read More »
