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5 days ago | 
psychologytoday.com | Kaytee Gillis |Michelle Quirk
I went home last week for a book signing. As anyone who survived childhood trauma in their family of origin can relate to, going home can be stressful, often for a multitude of reasons. There are the memories of childhood, some good, that I like to hold on to. But more often, I’m met with the memories of what was missing due to what I was dealing with at home. In many ways, our body remembers. At the end of the trip, seemingly out of nowhere, I felt the all-too-familiar beginning of a migraine aura.
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6 days ago | 
qoshe.com | Kaytee Gillis
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1 week ago | 
psychologytoday.com | Kaytee Gillis |Margaret Foley
When I first began my healing process, I was still very deep in the denial that had allowed me to survive my environment. I spent years trying to make sense of years of dysfunction, manipulation, and distortion—things that never fully added up, but that I had been forced to ignore or to find ways to explain away in order to survive. I had always coped by intellectualizing, minimizing, and excusing because, at the time, that felt safer.
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1 week ago | 
qoshe.com | Kaytee Gillis
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2 weeks ago | 
qoshe.com | Kaytee Gillis
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2 weeks ago | 
psychologytoday.com | Kaytee Gillis |Lybi Ma
We know that there is a link between trauma and mental health symptoms for all genders. Despite this knowledge, most mental health support focuses on cis-women. We can improve support for men by challenging stigmas around masculinity and encouraging open dialogue. Jason has been one of my longest clients. He has struggled with anxiety for most of his life, but struggled to find a provider whom he felt comfortable with.
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2 weeks ago | 
psychologytoday.com | Kaytee Gillis |Devon Frye
Family rejection contributes to high rates of homelessness of LGBTQ+ youth. Almost half of LGBTQ youth in foster care report being rejected by their family after coming out. Policy changes, as well as societal education, can help improve safety for survivors. When Henri came out as trans at 14, his family was not supportive. At first, he thought maybe they would come around; "They just need time," his older siblings said.
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2 weeks ago | 
psychologytoday.com | Kaytee Gillis |Devon Frye
When Henri came out as trans at 14, his family was not supportive. At first, he thought maybe they would come around; "They just need time," his older siblings said. But then, when Henri refused to "drop the phase," his father made it clear he was no longer welcome at home. With nowhere to go, Henri stayed with friends off and on, and eventually ended up at a youth shelter for some time, where he showed up on my caseload. At this point, he was 16, and social services was less involved.
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2 weeks ago | 
qoshe.com | Kaytee Gillis
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3 weeks ago | 
psychologytoday.com | Kaytee Gillis
Previous notions of trauma were often reserved for veterans with PTSD, leaving others out of the conversation. As a result, there is an empathy gap for survivors of other forms of trauma, such as relational trauma. This denial can compound the trauma already felt, and adds to the self-shame and denial many survivors have. Acknowledging and validating all forms of trauma can help support survivors in their healing.
