Trascritto

Why Do I Feel Like A Mess?: Exploring and Re-Framing Complex Trauma

28 set 2025 · 18 min. 35 sec.
Why Do I Feel Like A Mess?: Exploring and Re-Framing Complex Trauma
Capitoli

01 · Intro

0 sec.

02 · What is complex trauma?

1 min. 19 sec.

03 · What causes complex trauma?

2 min. 51 sec.

04 · C-PTSD from childhood abuse or neglect

3 min. 41 sec.

05 · C-PTSD and Emotionally Immature Parents

4 min. 23 sec.

06 · Parenting from subtraction

5 min. 27 sec.

07 · Origins of the harsh inner critic

6 min. 43 sec.

08 · The hypervigilant nervous system

7 min. 12 sec.

09 · The overzealous inner critic

8 min. 57 sec.

10 · Re-framing your trauma

10 min. 13 sec.

11 · Pushing back against the inner critic

11 min. 23 sec.

12 · Processing trauma into self-compassion

12 min. 5 sec.

13 · Practical hope for recovery

13 min. 9 sec.

14 · Glimmers - Looking for good

13 min. 40 sec.

15 · Breathing for regulation

14 min. 22 sec.

16 · Vagal toning for more calm

14 min. 49 sec.

17 · Habit stacking

15 min. 47 sec.

18 · Habit stacking

15 min. 47 sec.

19 · Realistic goals

16 min. 6 sec.

20 · Final thoughts

17 min. 10 sec.

21 · Outro

17 min. 43 sec.

Descrizione

Why Do I Feel Like A Mess?: Exploring and Re-Framing Complex Trauma Why do you wake up feeling like a disaster, even before coffee? Spoiler: it’s not just because it’s...

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Why Do I Feel Like A Mess?: Exploring and Re-Framing Complex Trauma
Why do you wake up feeling like a disaster, even before coffee? Spoiler: it’s not just because it’s Monday.

This episode digs into the basics of Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) - the trauma that doesn’t come from one giant, cinematic event, but from a thousand smaller ones stacked over time. We’re talking about growing up in chaos, emotional neglect, chronic unpredictability, relational wounds - the stuff that rewires your system before you even knew what wiring was.

Drawing on the work of experts like Pete Walker and Bruce Perry, we’ll look at why that background noise of danger leaves you with cycles of stuck behavior, constant survival mode, and that vague sense of “something’s wrong.” (It’s trauma. That’s what’s wrong. Congratulations, you’ve solved the riddle.)

We’re not minimizing single-incident trauma like combat, assault, or disasters - they’re very real and deserve their own focus.

Today’s spotlight is on the quieter, chronic version that so often hides in plain sight and shows up as struggles that you might be mistaking for character flaws. By the end, you’ll have a new lens for understanding why “feeling like a mess” isn’t a personal failing. It’s a nervous system doing its best with bad material.

Sources Referenced:

Armstrong, Amanda, MA. Healing Through the Vagus Nerve: Improve Your Body’s Response to Anxiety, Depression, Stress, and Trauma Through Nervous System Regulation. Fair Winds Press, 2024.

Campbell, Sherrie, PhD. Adult Survivors of Emotionally Abusive Parents: How to Heal, Cultivate Emotional Resilience, and Build the Life and Love You Deserve. New Harbinger  Publications, 2024.

Clear, James. Atomic Habits: The life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller. Random House, 2018.

Dana, Deb, LCSW. Anchored. Vermilion, 2024.

Durvasula, Ramani, PhD. It’s Not You: How to Identify and Heal from NARCISSISTIC People. Random House, 2024.

Emerson, David, and Elizabeth Hopper PhD. Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga: Reclaiming Your Body. North Atlantic Books, 2012.

Frank, Britt, LCSW. Align Your Mind: Tame Your Inner Critic and Make Peace with Your Shadow Using the Power of Parts Work. Penguin Group, 2025.

Germer, Christopher, PhD. The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions. Guilford Press, 2009.

Gibson, Lindsay C., PsyD. Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, Or Self-Involved Parents. New Harbinger  Publications, 2015.

Gutiérrez, Natalie Y., LMFT. The Pain We Carry: Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color. New Harbinger  Publications, 2022.

Porges, Stephen W., PhD, and Seth Porges. Our Polyvagal World: How Safety and Trauma Change Us. W. W. Norton and Company, 2023.

Rosenberg, Stanley, PhD. Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve. North Atlantic Books, 2017.

Van Der Kolk, Bessel, MD. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguin, 2014.

Walker, Pete, MA. Complex PTSD : From Surviving to Thriving: A Guide and Map for Recovering from Childhood Trauma. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013.

Winfrey, Oprah, and Bruce Perry MD, PhD. What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing. Pan Macmillan, 2021.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/i-guess-we-re-just-like-this-now--6748146/support.

Transcripts and free worksheets can be found here

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Organizzazione I Guess We're Just Like This Now
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