Darkness to Dialogue: Living Well With Mental Illness

Somatic Psychology: How Trauma Lives in the Body, and What It Means for Mental Health Recovery Estimated Read Time: 7 minutes Summary Trauma and stress aren’t just in your mind; they live in your body. This post explores somatic psychology, showing how understanding and working with bodily sensations can strengthen emotional healing, reduce relapse risk, and create a more holistic recovery journey. Key Takeaway Somatic psychology connects body sensations to emotional healing, revealing how trauma is stored physically. Recognizing and working with these signals supports mental health recovery and sustainable emotional regulation. When the Body Remembers I remember the days when anxiety felt like a heavy weight pressing on my chest, and exhaustion seemed to settle deep in my muscles, no matter how much I rested. My body held stress and pain I couldn’t name; a silent echo of past trauma. "Healing my mind wasn’t enough; my body needed attention too." It took time to realize that...

🔍 What It  Really  Takes to Rewrite Patterns After Trauma, Diagnosis, or Burnout 🕓  Estimated Read Time: 6 minutes 🧠 Article Summary Reconditioning isn’t just about changing behaviors; it’s about healing your nervous system, rewiring automatic thoughts, and creating real, embodied change.  This post explores what reconditioning actually means and why it’s an essential (and often overlooked) part of sustainable mental health recovery. ✨ From Reaction to Resilience: How I Began to Recondition My Mind There was a time in my recovery when I genuinely believed I was broken, because I kept reacting the same way to familiar triggers, even after I had “done the work.” Journaling, reflecting, celebrating small wins... none of it seemed to stop the return of survival-mode reactions when I felt abandoned or unseen. But what I’ve since learned is this: I wasn’t broken, I was conditioned. And what I needed wasn’t just more insight. I needed  reconditioning . Reconditionin...