Trauma
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Fostering Kittens and Healing from Trauma
Fostering feral kittens requires some patience and Gerber baby food chicken. I started the fostering process with a local non-profit. The big reward is to see the wild babies slowly decide to become domesticated, learning to trust humans for the first time. I find their progression fascinating, especially given that cats individually decide to become tame. Dogs want to be tamed, but according to the feral kitten experts, cats determine their fates for themselves. I’m less of a foster parent than a sales rep for the human race. Some kittens are an easier sell than others. The younger, the better of course, but helping them heal from their unexpected capture,…
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Mass Trauma: 5 Steps to Protecting Your Mental Health
We are currently suffering a global mass trauma. Even if we don’t come down with COVID 19, we live under the threat of it. Living in fear is one of the primary precursors to PTSD. I did a little research and quickly found that primary and secondary stressors can cause significant challenges to one’s mental health. For many of us, the daily news tally of the dead and the enforced quarantine is a primary stressor. For others, add to this contracting the disease or watching a loved one struggle and perhaps die, is an even greater primary stressor. The secondary stressors are beginning to add up. Children feel the loss…
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Anniversary Trauma: 5 Strategies to Overcome It
Five Ways to Overcome Anniversary Trauma It’s funny how anniversary trauma sneaks up on a person. November 30 marked the one year anniversary of the earthquake in Eagle River, Alaska. I am currently recovering from a car accident, so while on the table with my massage therapist, I found myself extremely tense. There is a difference between muscle spasms due to injury and muscles that are clenched from tension. I had plenty of the first, but this time I had tension all over my body. I knew that my lower back had been particularly painful, but this day, the therapist couldn’t go anywhere near it. All of a sudden, it…