tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11894840054636540402024-03-14T00:47:27.365-04:00THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO: HTTP://BLOG.HEALMYPTSD.COMA PTSD Recovery BlogMichele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.comBlogger253125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-2766200610854512542009-06-20T13:29:00.008-04:002009-06-21T10:09:43.630-04:00PTSD in the News: BIG NEWS DAYHello, Blog Friends!PARASITES OF THE MIND no longer lives at this address. WE'VE MOVED!That's right, PARASITES OF THE MIND now has A NEW ADDRESS:blog.healmyptsd.comTo keep up with us on a daily basis, please update your bookmark.See you in the new hood!(Photo: peglatz)Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-47810939995709215982009-06-19T10:09:00.004-04:002009-06-19T10:28:03.583-04:00Treating PTSD Symptoms: Is Your Therapist Right for You?, Part 1 For 8 years I was with a therapist I loved and adored and whom I thought hung the moon. Too bad he wasn't trauma trained. Yes, we made galaxies of progress, but by the end of 8 years that's all I could say. I'd made progress. I wasn't healed. I used to wail at him, "Henry, when will we ever be finished?" And Henry would sagely reply, "You'll know when you get there."Not good enough.We all know Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-37582067028184418722009-06-18T09:32:00.002-04:002009-06-18T09:37:34.441-04:00Meandering Michele's Mind: Recognizing the Role of the ObviousFrom the day my trauma ended through all the 25 years I struggled with PTSD undiagnosed through the following years of my healing one thought was always bigger and more constant in my mind than any other. One thought followed me wherever I went, no matter whether I was having a good day or a bad, spiralling or healing -- it didn't make a difference. This one thought was there, more a part of me Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-68019067348105895322009-06-17T10:00:00.001-04:002009-06-17T10:00:00.325-04:00Healing PTSD Symptoms: Our Stigma Against Seeking HelpWhy does it take so long for us to accept the fact that we need help?Why don't we know and admit immediately that we're living a life that's not exactly whole?For years and years I existed in a sort of psychological bumper cars, accepting the constant full-body crash of the PTSD symptoms insomnia, rage, hyperarousal, hypervigilance, emotional numbing, dissociation, intrusive thoughts and Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-2461801727135308472009-06-16T22:59:00.004-04:002009-06-16T23:09:37.936-04:00Dr. Alex Pattakos & I: Bridging the Gap Between Trauma and MeaningSo today I spoke with the one and only Dr. Alex Pattakos (that's Dr. Meaning, to you!) and he had some very interesting things to say about how the search for meaning applies to trauma healing.A quick overview:Logotherapy - This is the psychiatric core of Pattakos' theories. 'Logo' = Greek for meaning, soul, spirit. Logotherapy is the spiritualization of psychotherapy.Inherent in each of us is Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-62919310589988635932009-06-16T13:00:00.001-04:002009-06-16T17:22:37.580-04:00Survivors Speak: Poetry of VietnamI met Gary Jacobson in the phenomenal Yahoo! Group: Combat Vets with PTSD. I love this group. They are a terrific community of vets and significant others all of whom are dedicated to a healing path that nurtures education, connection, comaraderie, compassion, knowledge and proaction. It’s a group of people all over this continent who support each other and work together to figure out how to Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-49026531634083753442009-06-15T22:08:00.005-04:002009-06-15T22:30:03.360-04:00Meet Dr. Meaning a/k/a Alex Pattakos; BTR Interview on 6/16Dear Fellow PTSDers, it is with great excitement and honor that I'm announcing my interview with Dr. Alex Pattakos, on Tuesday, June 16 at 11:30am EST.Known around the world as 'Dr. Meaning', Pattakos is the protege of Vicktor Frankl, the trauma survivor who developed the therapeutic system of Logotherapy. Pattakos is the author of the internationally celebrated book, Prisoners of our Thoughts, Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-81988894255941490472009-06-15T11:24:00.004-04:002009-06-15T11:28:40.824-04:00Treating PTSD Symptoms: Being Present in the Search for TherapyWhen we enter into the therapeutic relationship, how focused are we? If you’re anything like me, not very. I was a mess. Such a mess (and so against being in therapy) that I didn’t actually choose, seek out, or decide upon my therapist. I hit rock bottom; splatted against a wall of depression and powerlessness, and then let someone else push the pieces together and into my therapist’s office. Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-12415155765109969542009-06-14T14:48:00.008-04:002009-06-14T15:01:45.770-04:00Professional Perspective: Dialectical Behavior Therapy & PTSD, Part 1I met Laura Burlingame-Lee when I stumbled upon her blog, The Other Side of the Couch. I immediately liked her personable voice and her incredibly educated and knowledgeable approach to communicating with those of us on, well, the other side of the couch!One of her posts referenced Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), something I'd never heard of before. I wrote asking for details and voila! In Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-469596856812520902009-06-13T18:20:00.004-04:002009-06-13T18:27:55.170-04:00PTSD in the News: Weekly RoundupBack in the News saddle after a week of trauma conference coverage and other bumpy life things.This afternoon I hosted a BTR show: ‘Bridging the Gap Between PTSD and The People Who Love Us’ — fabulous interview with my mom and Deb Vaughan, two people who have gone to great lengths to support survivors in recovery. For tips about how to facilitate communication and proactive healing, listen to theMichele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-49251649285567524902009-06-13T11:07:00.015-04:002009-06-13T16:29:23.233-04:00BTR Show TodayToday at 2:30pm (EST) I will host a radio show on BlogTalkRadio:Bridging the Gap Between PTSD and the People Who Love Us: What Every PTSDer Needs to Know About the View From the Other SideGuests for the show will be my mom, Eileen Rosenthal, who stuck by and did not abandon me (despite all the reasons I gave her to do so!) through 25 years of undiagnosed PTSD hell.And Deb Vaughan, who runs the 'IMichele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-78568346011134467752009-06-12T09:15:00.001-04:002009-06-15T09:59:15.250-04:00Getting Rid of PTSD Symptoms: Seeking a New Kind of HelpCan't help myself from looking back over the past week and recognizing how important it is to revamp our ideas of who to consider when we're seeking help. It's easy to get stuck in the rut of thinking only clinicians, therapists or trained practitioners can help us. But there's a whole world out there! Help can come in many different forms and from many different sources, from neuroscientists to Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-13673333736112833232009-06-11T11:15:00.003-04:002009-06-11T11:19:58.070-04:00Meandering Michele's Mind: In Memorium -- Bill HeringFor those of you who've been following this blog for a while, you know I'm a dancer and how much dance had to do with my PTSD recovery. When all therapies failed me I decided to pursue joy as a way to overthrow trauma's vicelike grip and to habituate myself to something outside of my trauma addiction, and to reconnect to my pure and innocent and untraumatised self, which I believed still existed Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-30844817886272496872009-06-10T11:44:00.006-04:002009-06-10T12:06:43.200-04:00Self-Empowered Healing: Audio Notes From NAMIA double post day because:Last night I spoke at the local meeting of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The topic:Are You Participating in Your Recovery?5 Tips to Supplement Therapy with Self-Empowered HealingToday, in my ever-increasing tech evolution: a slimmed down audio version (15 minutes) of last night's hourlong presentation.Comments? Thoughts? Things you would add?(Photo: maraculio)Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-59030540168899735392009-06-10T09:23:00.007-04:002009-06-15T09:59:15.251-04:00Healing PTSD: What We Learn from Seeking HelpContinuing from Monday's post... We never know from where or when healing comes. We receive the gift of progress from unlikely places. This can happen even more frequently if we're openly seeking input and advice from people whose perspective we admire. My experience at the trauma conference last weekend is a perfect example. But first: bringing the story up to date in terms of my own history:I Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-75519749311379440752009-06-09T09:43:00.004-04:002009-06-09T09:47:44.839-04:00Survivors Speak: Having A Survivors InstinctI love to hear the strong, resilient voice of a survivor who's determined not to let fate get the best of her. Donna Allen has such a voice. The victim of child abuse - and then the survivor of a plane crash - Donna Allen's voice is clear, committed, proactive and full of self-determination and belief. Bravo!When I was an abused teenager, I felt victimized, helpless, and overwhelmed and I shut Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-45520674633366221942009-06-08T21:09:00.008-04:002009-06-08T21:21:44.828-04:00National Alliance on Mental Illlness (NAMI)For those of you in the Palm Beach County area:Tuesday, June 9th I'll be speaking at NAMI's monthly chapter meeting. I've been invited to present on the topic: Are You Participating in Your Recovery? How to Supplement Therapy With Self-Empowered Healing6:30 - 7:30pm Oakwood Center of the Palm Beaches1041 45th StreetWest Palm BeachNAMI meetings are open to and free for the public. Refreshments Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-51592970997749994022009-06-08T09:15:00.000-04:002009-06-15T09:59:15.252-04:00Healing PTSD: Why We Don't Want to Seek HelpFor the past 3 days I've been posting about my experience at the 20th Annual Trauma Conference in Boston. It's got me thinking about how we PTSDers view the professional clinical world, plus how we do and don't utilize it, and why we have a love/hate relationship with the people we should be relying on for help.Let's go back 28 years. Before I even left the hospital after my trauma I had shut Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-70117052644016037442009-06-07T00:20:00.009-04:002009-06-15T15:49:33.898-04:0020th Annual Trauma Conference: Final NotesI love learning. If being a student was a profession it would have been the perfect one for me. Since I can't be a serial degree candidate, these sort of crash course weekends are really invigorating.The trauma conference ended yesterday, but not until I learned about emergence, complex systems science, attachment theory, theater vs. therapy and somatic transference. And then I had a very, very Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-56557857220089481742009-06-06T07:39:00.003-04:002009-06-06T07:47:25.247-04:0020th Annual Trauma Conference: Notes from the InsideYesterday, a friend set me straight on my perspective about this conference. He explained to me: "Most people who get interested in the science are studying lab rats. It's unusual for the lab rats to be studying the science."Once I understood that I am a rat at this conference, I got into the groove of the maze. As any good rat would, I adapted to the stimuli and made my way to find the cheese. Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-75570635337512056672009-06-05T00:35:00.007-04:002009-06-05T07:47:14.815-04:00PTSD Symptom Word of the Day: AlexithymiaI'm in Boston at the 20th Annual Trauma Conference. I spent yesterday in a seminar with Bessel van der Kolk, Alexander McFarlane, Jim Hopper, Ruth Lanius and Rachel Yehuda on the topic of 'Reorganizing the Disorganized Brain', all about the neuroanatomy of trauma. I learned some interesting things about primary, secondary and tertiary dissociation, failed cortical inhibition, neural networks, theMichele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-56239925828446493802009-06-04T07:46:00.005-04:002009-06-04T07:52:21.342-04:00Meandering Michele's Mind: Doing the PTSD Romance DanceI’m still thinking about partners and PTSD. I’ll tell you why. In the past two weeks, I’ve received more than one email from men wanting advice about how to stand by, support, help and love women struggling with PTSD. The traumas range from domestic violence to rape, but the words of the men are all the same: “I love a woman with PTSD. How can I help her recover?”In times when we’re so depressed Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-66310712291832200842009-06-03T12:06:00.006-04:002009-06-15T10:00:26.719-04:00PTSD Symptoms: Deciding to Seek Help, Part 2For a long time I thought I was stronger than my trauma. After all, I had survived it, so that meant something, right? I was tough. It wasn't going to beat me twice. It wasn't going to beat me once - I was done with it. Over it. Fini! Oh, those symptoms? They're not trauma related...I would have gone on suffering and struggling forever if I hadn't reached a day that something broke in me and I Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-84408243874790213332009-06-02T08:35:00.005-04:002009-06-02T10:04:44.187-04:00Survivors Speak: Healing Effects Of Early Childhood AbuseI met Debbie E. on Twitter and was immediately taken in by her proactive, positive outlook on coping and healing. To give you a taste of what she's like, her Tweet from only a minute ago is: "I'm hungry for pancakes." Now that's a survivor who's healing! Today, in her own words, Debbie's journey from infant abuse to woman healing.Growing up, I was abused to the point that, at the age of three, I Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189484005463654040.post-37806269264029964152009-06-01T08:45:00.005-04:002009-06-15T10:00:26.720-04:00PTSD Doesn't Heal Itself: Deciding to Seek Help It's a new month, which means on to a new part of the BRIDGE THE GAP healing workshop! Now that we're clear on our intentions, we're talking, reaching out, and we've educated ourselves and others about PTSD, we're in the perfect position for 2009 Healing Resolution No. 6: I WILL SEEK HELP.A word about this activity before we dive in: Seeking help is, quite possibly, the toughest part of healing.Michele Rosenthalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898364169417010039noreply@blogger.com3