Favourite Quotes Part 2

[Kizzie]

This thread is a continuation of the thread "Favourite Quotes Part 1"

[MaryAnn]

I have been reading today trying to find anything I can about overcoming developmental trauma.  I found articles by Briere, Courtois, Linehan, and van der Kolk as well as reading many chapters of the books I have by the same.  They provide a lot of data, research, and technicals about the brain, how it works, but I am yet to find out how to truly overcome it other than therapy that is done with kid gloves.  My T is helping and is doing this but it is a long, slow process.  So patience is getting the better of me, I want to so badly just forget it all but I know that will not be the fix that makes me happy long term.  Love Ellen and I was looking for some funny and uplifting sayings from her to make me laugh and ran across this, going to make this my mantra:

Find out who you are and be that person. That's what your soul was put on this Earth to be. Find that truth, live that truth and everything else will come.

Ellen DeGeneres

MaryAnn

[stillhere]

MaryAnn,

I expect you've encountered Pete Walker's book, Complex PTSD:  From Surviving to Thriving.  It's discussed so often on this site that missing it would be hard.  He's a clinician and not a researcher, unlike the other authors you've listed.  I found his only a few months ago, and I'm still amazed at the clarity and congruence with my experience.

Like you, I've been reading anything that looks potentially useful.  I'm about order van der Kolk's recently published book, which I hope will explain still more about mind/body connections and (maybe?) strategies for confronting CPTSD. 

Yes, it's a slow process.  One obstacle for me was recognizing that is really is chronic condition that can be addressed but never really cured.  I had not expected to be working on it now, but here I am.

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts about paths forward, along with what you're reading.

[MaryAnn]

Thank you stillhere.  I have read Pete Walker's books.  Both books were helpful with some topics, especially the validation of what we have been through and how it effects us. 

....and I'm still amazed at the clarity and congruence with my experience.

I agree completely.

I also agree with your other observation but I am struggling to accept it as true.

One obstacle for me was recognizing that is really is chronic condition that can be addressed but never really cured.

I have an issue with this part of Pete Walkers book.  I want a cure. I do not want to accept that it is a chronic condition that I will have to deal with the rest of my life.  When I read this I felt that there was no hope, that I will work to make strides to feel better, feel whole, only to relapse.  I might not relapse all the way back or maybe I will, and have to start over again to find happiness. 

I recently read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.  It is a tough one to read.  It deals with how he survived in the concentration camps of the Holocaust.  But, it definitely gave new meaning for me to the meaning of hope and being grateful.  I am currently reading Treatment of Complex Trauma by Christine Courtois and Julian Ford.  It is definitely written more for the therapist not for the client so far but the concepts or treatment have been helpful.

Let me know about van der Kolk's book and if it is helpful. Sometimes he seems kind of cold, not as compassionate as some of the others like John Briere or Jonice Webb.  I will do the same with any new books I read and my experiences in the path to move forward.

Lol, MaryAnn 

[woodsgnome]

I wish I could show you
When you are lonely or in darkness
The Astonishing Light
Of your own Being.

Hafiz (14th century poet)...from the preface to "The Deepest Acceptance", by Jeff Foster

[woodsgnome]

"There is no freedom like seeing myself as I am and not losing heart."

--Elizabeth J. Canham

[Dutch Uncle]

"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."

The WOPR computer a.k.a. Joshua from the movie "War Games" (1983)

[arpy1]

oh, i love that.  i wish i hadn't played.

[Dutch Uncle]

Me too!

I'm learning though  .

[KayFly]

"When the choice is to be right or to be kind, always make the choice that brings peace." – Wayne Dyer

[woodsgnome]

We can live without religion or meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.

                                                --Dalai Lama

...perhaps even if it's just the dream of human affection...

[Dutch Uncle]

The Dalai Lama is a wise man.
He even hinted that it might be a good idea if he would not reincarnate. True story!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/16/us-china-tibet-idUSKBN0N70B720150416

I feel very affectionate towards you, woodsgnome. It's not a dream! 

[KayFly]

Aww I love that quote woodsgnome. I feel affection for you too. And you too Dutch. Group Hug 

[arpy1]

me too Woodsgnome, 

[woodsgnome]

"The test of one's decency is how much of a fight one can put up after one has stopped caring, and after one has found out that one can never please the people they wanted to please."

                                               ---Willa Cather