He has been working as a counselor, lecturer, writer and group leader for thirty five years and as a trainer, supervisor and consultant of other therapists for 20 years. Running from relationships and people getting close to me (ghosting them, replying late, etc.Pete Walker is a licensed Marriage and Family psychotherapist with degrees in Social Work and Counseling Psychology.Physically fleeing a space and hiding someplace I feel less vulnerable (in the bathroom, the car, or in extreme distress cases under a bed, under a desk).Running to the cabinet and instinctually eating sweets/snacks for comfort food.Burying myself in writing articles (haha), work, phone calls, busyness, exercise.

The prevalence of these responses is why I am working so hard in therapy to understand a) what is happening when I behave these ways b) what is a trauma response, and what is something I actually want to do - these are the only ways I can continue to unearth and appreciate my core aspects of self, instead of these other ways I find myself spending time, but often have no idea why.Īmazing graphic from Homage paid, here’s my take on what it’s personally like to experience each response type. In turn, people have a lower perceived level of tolerance for stressful circumstances, and may have overreactions/underreactions to ordinary and non-threatening events. In other cases, the brain shuts down and there is less activity than usual, causing “freeze” reactions. In some cases, there is too much brain activity, causing people to be on edge, or agitated. This causes physical changes in the amygdala, and nervous system/limbic regulation. Basically, people with PTSD/CPTSD’s brains are trained to be more (excessively) responsive to potentially dangerous stimuli over time. In the latter, Pete Walker runs through the four main types of adrenalin/stress responses that people experience in relation to triggers or stress when they have been exposed to chronic trauma. The best authority on the “4F’s” is Pete Walker, the incredible author of two books that are classics in the CPTSD literary canon, the Tao of Fully Feeling, and Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving: A Guide and Map for Recovering from Childhood Trauma.

Part of an ongoing series about life with complex post-traumatic stress disorder

Pete walker ptsd