Do you know or suspect that your adopted child with a trauma history has periods, however brief, of dissociation?
Not by Choice
Dissociation in a nutshell is an involuntary disconnect from your body, mind and/or surroundings. It’s an involuntary episode that like a seizure, is not something your child is intentionally choosing to do. And your child's early trauma may be a risk factor for turning on this survival mechanism.
A reminder to yourself that this isn't voluntary, along with an awareness of the specifics of how it tends to play out in your affected child when a dissociation episode happens,
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Does your child or teen tend to overreact with excessive & prolonged drama or explosive behavior? Let’s talk about it…
WHEN THEIR OVERREACTING IS ACTUALLY A TRAUMA RESPONSE
…Today, we're diving deep into an essential trauma tip for adoptive moms. It's all about the ability to CALM DOWN – something that can be particularly challenging for traumatized kids. The key concept here revolves around understanding that their brains and bodies are not as efficient in down-regulating from a heightened state of amygdala activation.
Most adoptive moms and other second moms have lots of ideas, expectations, wishes & dreams about being successful in their new mom roles.
But as a practical matter, even after years in, second mom will often have a fuzzy definition (if any) of what it means for her to truly be successful in this non-traditional role. Or how this role impacts the other roles, relationships & areas of her life.
We get stuck wondering things like,
“How can I get her to stop lying?” or
“Why won’t he do what I say without blowing up?”
When you’re unsure what to do, it’s hard to move forward & easy to feel like you’re failing.
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