Forcing someone to express only positive emotions can stifle their ability to communicate + make them feel badly abt themselves for having human negative thoughts. The result is guilt, + stuffing feelings inside, which is dangerous for mental health.

If mentally ‘beating yourself up’ into healing works it would have worked by now. Gentle, Gentle, Gentle.

The irony abt trauma healing is that it’s often more painful in the short-term than the trauma itself. During/Post trauma we develop defenses against feeling, in order to survive. When we heal, we start to feel, + it feels like crapola at first. This. Will. Pass. Hang On!

Stop gaslighting yourself into the narrative you’re lazy when you’re actually exhausted AF from: •faking well •ReParenting your inner child •trying to fit into an ableist society •doing trauma-healing work •just surviving dark times •having to live w/ chronic pain

Trauma responses are our brain’s way of trying to over-compensate in response to heinous events when our usual ability to cope is maxed out. This is a reflexive mechanism, person specific, + NOT a choice.