You’ve been through so much.

Life has given you more than a few hits. You’ve picked yourself up from each one of them. While you wouldn’t choose to live these challenges again, you see where there is meaning and purpose in what you’ve been through.

But you’re tired. Your body feels exhausted.

You wake up feeling anxious most days, like there’s something you need to check on right now. Your mind is always going. You’ve been managing so much. It feels like there’s always something to do.

After taking care of your family and work, you have little left for you. You want to take care of yourself, but you have no time or energy so you end up zoning out or scrolling endlessly.

You try to get done what you need to each day. At times, it feels like chaos. You feel completely exhausted - physically, mentally, spiritually.

When you do take time for you, you feel guilty thinking of the other ways you could be spending that time.

You know it’s important to see friends, but you don’t have the energy so you limit your social engagements. You’re too depleted to spend meaningful time with your partner. You snap about things that never used to bother you.

You know you’re not yourself and that’s understandable, but you feel stuck in a loop of anxiety, pain, and exhaustion that you wish you could get out of.

You wish you could take a break from it all so you can finally rest, recover, and heal.

 I woke up exhausted every day.

If I tried to sleep in I couldn’t. And when I did, I woke up anxious like I had forgotten to do something or I felt guilty about sleeping instead of getting things done.

The only time it felt okay to rest was when I was taken down by pain.

I spent nearly two decades dealing with migraines. I explored options in conventional medicine only to be told my tests looked good, there was no “reason” for my symptoms, and there was nothing they could do for me. I tried even more options in complementary medicine finding my relief was minimal or short-term.

I didn’t know it then, but this pain was a result of traumatic childhood experiences that shaped the way I responded to stress. I learned to keep my thoughts, opinions, and needs to myself. I made choices that I thought would please others and limit consequences for me. As a result, this left me holding the tension of my unvoiced needs in my mind and my body.

Trauma inherently creates disconnection - from yourself, your relationships and your community. Pain shows up to get your attention. It’s here to ensure your needs are being met - especially those of feeling safe, secure, and connected.

When I developed a relationship with pain in this way, I understood it as my guide connecting me with exactly what I needed to take care of myself. I no longer feared it and I stopped experiencing migraines.

I believe if you want to feel whole and are willing to follow a new path to get there, you can heal, reconnect, and thrive after trauma. Together, we’ll uncover the lost connections your symptoms are showing you, create a blueprint to respond to your needs, regain your health and thoroughly enjoy your life again.

— Kristen Stafford

Here’s The Path

 Ready to Heal, Reconnect, and Thrive after Chronic or Complex Trauma?

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