Dr. Janna Gottwald-Stridbeck, Dipl.-Psych.

Psychologist | Psychotherapist in training | Educator

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I am a psychologist, educator and psychotherapist in training. My expertise is in clinical psychology, developmental psychology, embodiment, neurodiversity, early childhood and trauma in adults.

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What makes a good enough therapist? Winnicott introduced the concept of the good enough mother. Rather than striving for an illusion of perfection or for the absolute goodness, it is about being good enough.

Along these lines, we can also ask about good enough therapists. What makes a therapist good enough?

Therapeutic styles of relating and being with the patient are key. Helpful questions often are, how we are with the patient.

Steele, Boon and van der Hart write „good enough therapists keep in mind that it is much less about what they do for patients than how they are with them. Good enough therapists really do accept themselves as they are in the moment and know that aspirations for being a better therapist are not the same as expectations of being perfect.“

❓What are your thoughts?

📖 Kathy Steele, Suzette Boon, & Onno van der Hart (2017). Treating Trauma-Related Dissociation: A Practical, Integrative Approach.

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What makes a good enough therapist? Winnicott introduced the concept of the good enough mother. Rather than striving for an illusion of perfection or for the absolute goodness, it is about being good enough. Along these lines, we can also ask about good enough therapists. What makes a therapist good enough? Therapeutic styles of relating and being with the patient are key. Helpful questions often are, how we are with the patient. Steele, Boon and van der Hart write „good enough therapists keep in mind that it is much less about what they do for patients than how they are with them. Good enough therapists really do accept themselves as they are in the moment and know that aspirations for being a better therapist are not the same as expectations of being perfect.“ ❓What are your thoughts? 📖 Kathy Steele, Suzette Boon, & Onno van der Hart (2017). Treating Trauma-Related Dissociation: A Practical, Integrative Approach.

5 months ago

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1/9

Hi, I’m Janna. 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m a psychologist and psychotherapist in training from Germany. During the last decade, I’ve been mostly living and working in Sweden and for some time also in the UK. Some years ago, I returned to Germany for my training in psychodynamic psychotherapy. My account here is in English to connect with as many of you as possible. Please feel free to also reach out to me in German or Swedish 🥰

For a long time, I’ve been fascinated by #psychoanalysis, the unconscious and inner conflicts. I am used to thinking about early life experiences and especially relations as building blocks for the human psyche. During recent years, I’ve started to more and more see the impact the individual neurodevelopment has and how it interacts with a person’s story, their experiences and personality. Neurodiversity needs to be addressed besides our childhood story and our inner conflicts. We can think of a person‘s neurotype as their basic structure. For me, this is a helpful extension and enrichment of my psychodynamic thinking.

Integrative approaches are important to me, because I believe in tailoring therapy to each individual person. It is about treating humans and not about a specific idea or model. So, we have to fit theories and approaches to the individual person instead of making them fit into our theoretical boxes.

I hold a PhD in developmental psychology. My research was in embodied cognitive science and looked at the link between body movement (reaching) and cognition (executive functions) during the first two years of life. I originally came to study early childhood development, because I wanted to learn about the early preverbal years - those years, we can’t explicitly remember and which are at the same time very formative for our personality. I believe that this knowledge additionally helps to understand people, their individual histories and their upbringing.

These were some words about me, now I’d like to hear from you! Tell me, how did you come to be interested in trauma, embodiment, neurodivergence or psychotherapy.

•

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Hi, I’m Janna. 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m a psychologist and psychotherapist in training from Germany. During the last decade, I’ve been mostly living and working in Sweden and for some time also in the UK. Some years ago, I returned to Germany for my training in psychodynamic psychotherapy. My account here is in English to connect with as many of you as possible. Please feel free to also reach out to me in German or Swedish 🥰 For a long time, I’ve been fascinated by #psychoanalysis, the unconscious and inner conflicts. I am used to thinking about early life experiences and especially relations as building blocks for the human psyche. During recent years, I’ve started to more and more see the impact the individual neurodevelopment has and how it interacts with a person’s story, their experiences and personality. Neurodiversity needs to be addressed besides our childhood story and our inner conflicts. We can think of a person‘s neurotype as their basic structure. For me, this is a helpful extension and enrichment of my psychodynamic thinking. Integrative approaches are important to me, because I believe in tailoring therapy to each individual person. It is about treating humans and not about a specific idea or model. So, we have to fit theories and approaches to the individual person instead of making them fit into our theoretical boxes. I hold a PhD in developmental psychology. My research was in embodied cognitive science and looked at the link between body movement (reaching) and cognition (executive functions) during the first two years of life. I originally came to study early childhood development, because I wanted to learn about the early preverbal years - those years, we can’t explicitly remember and which are at the same time very formative for our personality. I believe that this knowledge additionally helps to understand people, their individual histories and their upbringing. These were some words about me, now I’d like to hear from you! Tell me, how did you come to be interested in trauma, embodiment, neurodivergence or psychotherapy.

5 months ago

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2/9

Lisa Morgan on the so-called high-functioning #autism. „High-functioning“ often means high-masking. #Masking is an intense form of adaptation to social expectations. It means hiding autistic traits and trying to appear non-autistic. Masking comes with possibilities to fit in with the majority of people, but comes with a price: deep exhaustion after demanding social and sensory situations.

The term autistic masking often reminds me of the concept of the „false self“ in the psychoanalytic works of D.W. Winnicott and H. Kohut. Alice Miller combined their work and wrote extensively about attempts of children to not show their true feelings and to adapt to the expectations of first their parents, second to society („The drama of the gifted child“).

I’m wondering whether some of their treated patients who experienced this deep disconnect from their „true self“ also were autistic. This is me trying to connect #psychoanalysis with theories of #neurodivergence 🤓

Instead of asking people about what they *can* to, I find it helpful to ask, what it *costs* them.

What are your thoughts? 💡

📖 Lisa Morgan & Mary P. Donahue (2021). Living with PTSD on the autism spectrum: Insightful analysis with practical applications. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

❤️ Follow @janna.gottwald for more content on childhood trauma, neurodivergence and how our early years affect us as adults.

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Lisa Morgan on the so-called high-functioning #autism. „High-functioning“ often means high-masking. #Masking is an intense form of adaptation to social expectations. It means hiding autistic traits and trying to appear non-autistic. Masking comes with possibilities to fit in with the majority of people, but comes with a price: deep exhaustion after demanding social and sensory situations. The term autistic masking often reminds me of the concept of the „false self“ in the psychoanalytic works of D.W. Winnicott and H. Kohut. Alice Miller combined their work and wrote extensively about attempts of children to not show their true feelings and to adapt to the expectations of first their parents, second to society („The drama of the gifted child“). I’m wondering whether some of their treated patients who experienced this deep disconnect from their „true self“ also were autistic. This is me trying to connect #psychoanalysis with theories of #neurodivergence 🤓 Instead of asking people about what they *can* to, I find it helpful to ask, what it *costs* them. What are your thoughts? 💡 📖 Lisa Morgan & Mary P. Donahue (2021). Living with PTSD on the autism spectrum: Insightful analysis with practical applications. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ❤️ Follow @janna.gottwald for more content on childhood trauma, neurodivergence and how our early years affect us as adults.

6 months ago

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3/9

In the history of psychoanalysis, there have always been debates whether it’s more about internal (unconscious) fantasy or more about the effects of the outside world that shape the psyche. The complex dynamics between both are described differently by psychoanalysts of different traditions (compare e.g. Klein and Kohut).

These discussions are especially relevant in the case of childhood trauma, where the outside world has been overwhelmingly invasive for a child’s psyche. Leonard Shengold (1989) wrote about „too much too-muchness“ - his definition of trauma.

„Too much and too little are qualities of experience. Too much too-muchness we call trauma. Child abuse means that the child has felt too much to bear; child deprivation means that the child has been exposed to too little to meet his or her needs“

Shengold describes how unconscious fantasy and overwhelming experience are intertwined. A psychoanalytic investigation of the complexities of childhood trauma. In my view, this book neither minimises the impacts of traumatic experiences nor the importance of unconscious fantasy. This made this book feel timely (even its from 1989).

📖 Leonard Shengold (1989). Soul murder. The effects of childhood abuse and deprivation. Yale University Press.

❤️ Save this post to come back to it whenever needed.

❤️ Follow @janna.gottwald for more content on psychodynamic thinking, childhood trauma, neurodivergence and how our early years affect us as adults.

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In the history of psychoanalysis, there have always been debates whether it’s more about internal (unconscious) fantasy or more about the effects of the outside world that shape the psyche. The complex dynamics between both are described differently by psychoanalysts of different traditions (compare e.g. Klein and Kohut). These discussions are especially relevant in the case of childhood trauma, where the outside world has been overwhelmingly invasive for a child’s psyche. Leonard Shengold (1989) wrote about „too much too-muchness“ - his definition of trauma. „Too much and too little are qualities of experience. Too much too-muchness we call trauma. Child abuse means that the child has felt too much to bear; child deprivation means that the child has been exposed to too little to meet his or her needs“ Shengold describes how unconscious fantasy and overwhelming experience are intertwined. A psychoanalytic investigation of the complexities of childhood trauma. In my view, this book neither minimises the impacts of traumatic experiences nor the importance of unconscious fantasy. This made this book feel timely (even its from 1989). 📖 Leonard Shengold (1989). Soul murder. The effects of childhood abuse and deprivation. Yale University Press. ❤️ Save this post to come back to it whenever needed. ❤️ Follow @janna.gottwald for more content on psychodynamic thinking, childhood trauma, neurodivergence and how our early years affect us as adults.

7 months ago

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4/9

Let‘s talk about empathy! „There is a prevalent misconception that autistic people lack empathy; in reality most of them have so much empathy it hurts“, write Lisa Morgan and Mary Donahue (2021) .

It‘s a common misconception that autistic people lack empathy. You can hear these erroneous assumptions nearly everywhere. Lay people and people working in medical and helping professions engage in such thoughts. For a long time, science couldn’t catch up with the actual autistic experience. Generally, the topic „autism“ is often discussed from a deficit-lens. Add in misconceptions, misunderstandings, and under-complex autism representations in films (e.g. Rain Man, Big Bang Theory) and you have a confusing and biased picture of what autism actually is and how it feels like from the inside.

For the empathy bit, we have to differentiate between affective (feelings) and cognitive empathy (thoughts). We also have to make a difference between what a person is experiencing (internally) and what they are showing (externally). We all interpret other‘s people behaviour and we can be quite wrong about other‘s feelings and intentions, especially when a situation is ambiguous and when we can‘t read another person so well.

Many autistic people (of course, not all are alike, as non-autistic people aren‘t either) have a more unbalanced empathy than non-autistic people. For some, the affective part is more pronounced than the cognitive part. That means, they easily feel the emotions of other people around them (this can be overwhelming), but at the same time don‘t have the explanations of the intentions and reasons behind these emotions. Empathy in non-autistic people usually is more balanced. But: Keep in mind, the differences within each group are huge. Empathy is kind of a spectrum too with different aspects that have different dimensions.

What are your experiences with empathy?

📖 Lisa Morgan & Mary P. Donahue (2021). Living with PTSD on the autism spectrum: Insightful analysis with practical applications. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
📖 Brit Wilczek (2023). Wer ist hier eigentlich autistisch? Ein Perspektivwechsel (2nd ed.). Kohlhammer.

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Let‘s talk about empathy! „There is a prevalent misconception that autistic people lack empathy; in reality most of them have so much empathy it hurts“, write Lisa Morgan and Mary Donahue (2021) . It‘s a common misconception that autistic people lack empathy. You can hear these erroneous assumptions nearly everywhere. Lay people and people working in medical and helping professions engage in such thoughts. For a long time, science couldn’t catch up with the actual autistic experience. Generally, the topic „autism“ is often discussed from a deficit-lens. Add in misconceptions, misunderstandings, and under-complex autism representations in films (e.g. Rain Man, Big Bang Theory) and you have a confusing and biased picture of what autism actually is and how it feels like from the inside. For the empathy bit, we have to differentiate between affective (feelings) and cognitive empathy (thoughts). We also have to make a difference between what a person is experiencing (internally) and what they are showing (externally). We all interpret other‘s people behaviour and we can be quite wrong about other‘s feelings and intentions, especially when a situation is ambiguous and when we can‘t read another person so well. Many autistic people (of course, not all are alike, as non-autistic people aren‘t either) have a more unbalanced empathy than non-autistic people. For some, the affective part is more pronounced than the cognitive part. That means, they easily feel the emotions of other people around them (this can be overwhelming), but at the same time don‘t have the explanations of the intentions and reasons behind these emotions. Empathy in non-autistic people usually is more balanced. But: Keep in mind, the differences within each group are huge. Empathy is kind of a spectrum too with different aspects that have different dimensions. What are your experiences with empathy? 📖 Lisa Morgan & Mary P. Donahue (2021). Living with PTSD on the autism spectrum: Insightful analysis with practical applications. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 📖 Brit Wilczek (2023). Wer ist hier eigentlich autistisch? Ein Perspektivwechsel (2nd ed.). Kohlhammer.

7 months ago

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5/9

It’s about time for a new introduction - I’m so glad you are here!

Hi, I’m Janna. 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m a psychologist and psychotherapist in training from Germany. During the last decade, I’ve been mostly living and working in Sweden and for some time also in the UK. Some years ago, I returned to Germany for my training in #psychodynamic #psychotherapy. My account here is in English to connect with as many of you as possible. Please feel free to also reach out to me in German or Swedish 🥰

For a long time, I’ve been fascinated by #psychoanalysis, the unconscious and inner conflicts. I am used to thinking about early life experiences and especially relations as building blocks for the human psyche. During recent years, I’ve started to more and more see the impact the individual neurodevelopment has and how it interacts with a person’s story, their experiences and personality. #Neurodiversity needs to be addressed besides our childhood story and our inner conflicts. In my view, this is a helpful extension and enrichment of my psychodynamic thinking.

Integrative approaches are important to me, because I believe in tailoring therapy to each individual patient. It is about treating humans and not about a specific idea or model. So, we have to fit theories and approaches to the individual person instead of making them fit into our theoretical boxes.

I hold a PhD in developmental psychology. My research was in #embodied cognitive science and looked at the link between body movement (reaching) and cognition (executive functions) during the first two years of life. I originally came to study early childhood development, because I wanted to learn about the early preverbal years - those years, we can’t explicitly remember and which are at the same time very formative for our personality. I believe that this knowledge additionally helps to understand people, their individual histories and their upbringing.

These were some words about me, now I’d like to hear from you! Tell me, how did you come to be interested in #trauma, embodiment, #neurodivergence or psychotherapy.

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It’s about time for a new introduction - I’m so glad you are here! Hi, I’m Janna. 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m a psychologist and psychotherapist in training from Germany. During the last decade, I’ve been mostly living and working in Sweden and for some time also in the UK. Some years ago, I returned to Germany for my training in #psychodynamic #psychotherapy. My account here is in English to connect with as many of you as possible. Please feel free to also reach out to me in German or Swedish 🥰 For a long time, I’ve been fascinated by #psychoanalysis, the unconscious and inner conflicts. I am used to thinking about early life experiences and especially relations as building blocks for the human psyche. During recent years, I’ve started to more and more see the impact the individual neurodevelopment has and how it interacts with a person’s story, their experiences and personality. #Neurodiversity needs to be addressed besides our childhood story and our inner conflicts. In my view, this is a helpful extension and enrichment of my psychodynamic thinking. Integrative approaches are important to me, because I believe in tailoring therapy to each individual patient. It is about treating humans and not about a specific idea or model. So, we have to fit theories and approaches to the individual person instead of making them fit into our theoretical boxes. I hold a PhD in developmental psychology. My research was in #embodied cognitive science and looked at the link between body movement (reaching) and cognition (executive functions) during the first two years of life. I originally came to study early childhood development, because I wanted to learn about the early preverbal years - those years, we can’t explicitly remember and which are at the same time very formative for our personality. I believe that this knowledge additionally helps to understand people, their individual histories and their upbringing. These were some words about me, now I’d like to hear from you! Tell me, how did you come to be interested in #trauma, embodiment, #neurodivergence or psychotherapy.

7 months ago

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6/9

I took a deep dive into books written on autistic experiences. Here are some I’d liked best - most of them written by autistic people and in a non-pathologising way:

1️⃣ Temple Grandin - The autistic brain: Exploring the strength of a different kind of mind

2️⃣ Pete Wharmby -‎ Untypical: How the world isn’t built for autistic people and what we should do about it @pete_wharmby_books

3️⃣ Steve Silberman - Neurotribes: The legacy of autism and how to think smarter about people who think differently

4️⃣ Steph Jones - The autistic survival guide to therapy @autistic_therapist

5️⃣ Brit Wilczek - Autismus, Trauma und Bewältigung: Grundlagen für die psychotherapeutische Praxis

6️⃣ Sarah Hendrickx - Women and girls with autism spectrum disorder: Understanding life experiences from early childhood to old age

(Regarding 6️⃣: There’s a newer version out by Sarah Hendrickx. This version has a different cover)

#trauma #autism #childhoodtrauma #cptsd #autismspectrum #autisticcommunity #neurodiversity #actuallyautistic #therapy #neurodivergent #neurodivergence #neurodiversität #neurodevelopment #psychologistsofinstagram #therapistsofinstagram #bookworm #bookwormchallenge #relationaltherapy #therapistsconnect #therapistcommunity

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I took a deep dive into books written on autistic experiences. Here are some I’d liked best - most of them written by autistic people and in a non-pathologising way: 1️⃣ Temple Grandin - The autistic brain: Exploring the strength of a different kind of mind 2️⃣ Pete Wharmby -‎ Untypical: How the world isn’t built for autistic people and what we should do about it @pete_wharmby_books 3️⃣ Steve Silberman - Neurotribes: The legacy of autism and how to think smarter about people who think differently 4️⃣ Steph Jones - The autistic survival guide to therapy @autistic_therapist 5️⃣ Brit Wilczek - Autismus, Trauma und Bewältigung: Grundlagen für die psychotherapeutische Praxis 6️⃣ Sarah Hendrickx - Women and girls with autism spectrum disorder: Understanding life experiences from early childhood to old age (Regarding 6️⃣: There’s a newer version out by Sarah Hendrickx. This version has a different cover) #trauma #autism #childhoodtrauma #cptsd #autismspectrum #autisticcommunity #neurodiversity #actuallyautistic #therapy #neurodivergent #neurodivergence #neurodiversität #neurodevelopment #psychologistsofinstagram #therapistsofinstagram #bookworm #bookwormchallenge #relationaltherapy #therapistsconnect #therapistcommunity

2 years ago

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7/9

What are the links between autism and trauma? In her 2024-book, Steph Jones (@autistic_therapist) cites an article by Lobregt-van Buuren and colleagues (2021) that presents us with some stats regarding the co-occurrence between autism and trauma.

Part of the autistic experience and some of the observable autistic traits seem to be similar to trauma symptoms (stemming from emotional neglect and attachment trauma). That led psychiatrists and psychoanalysts in former decades to the belief that one causes the other, i.e. early attachment trauma leading to autism. Research however shows that this is not the case. It is more the other way around: Being autistic increases the risk for traumatic experiences (Wilczek, 2024).

Why‘s that? Here are 7 possible explanations for the autism-trauma link:

(1) Autistic traits are being misjudged as being trauma symptoms leading to misdiagnosis and wrong treatment.

(2) Growing up in a world that is not shaped for autistic people can be traumatic per se.

(3) Autistic people are at a biological greater risk for trauma because of their sensitive and highly reactive nervous system.

(4) Autism is highly heritable, i.e. there is a high likelihood that one (or both) parent(s) is (not-knowingly) neurodivergent too, which can come with a lower stress tolerance and more situations of overwhelm for the neurodivergent parent. This in turn can have a negative impact on the autistic child.

(5) Many autistics experience bullying and ostracism at school or work. Autistic people experience these more often than non-autistic people. Bullying can be traumatic.

(6) Some predators specifically target autistic people who more often than non-autistic people have difficulties with setting boundaries. Autistic people often are more vulnerable to relational abuse than non-autistic people.

(7) Autistic people often experience being fundamentally different than non-autistic people. Leaving many feeling frequently misunderstood, isolated and bewildered. Isolation and being lonely can be traumatic.

📖Brit Wilczek (2024). Autismus, Trauma und Bewältigung.

📖Step Jones (2024). The autistic survival guide to therapy.

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What are the links between autism and trauma? In her 2024-book, Steph Jones (@autistic_therapist) cites an article by Lobregt-van Buuren and colleagues (2021) that presents us with some stats regarding the co-occurrence between autism and trauma. Part of the autistic experience and some of the observable autistic traits seem to be similar to trauma symptoms (stemming from emotional neglect and attachment trauma). That led psychiatrists and psychoanalysts in former decades to the belief that one causes the other, i.e. early attachment trauma leading to autism. Research however shows that this is not the case. It is more the other way around: Being autistic increases the risk for traumatic experiences (Wilczek, 2024). Why‘s that? Here are 7 possible explanations for the autism-trauma link: (1) Autistic traits are being misjudged as being trauma symptoms leading to misdiagnosis and wrong treatment. (2) Growing up in a world that is not shaped for autistic people can be traumatic per se. (3) Autistic people are at a biological greater risk for trauma because of their sensitive and highly reactive nervous system. (4) Autism is highly heritable, i.e. there is a high likelihood that one (or both) parent(s) is (not-knowingly) neurodivergent too, which can come with a lower stress tolerance and more situations of overwhelm for the neurodivergent parent. This in turn can have a negative impact on the autistic child. (5) Many autistics experience bullying and ostracism at school or work. Autistic people experience these more often than non-autistic people. Bullying can be traumatic. (6) Some predators specifically target autistic people who more often than non-autistic people have difficulties with setting boundaries. Autistic people often are more vulnerable to relational abuse than non-autistic people. (7) Autistic people often experience being fundamentally different than non-autistic people. Leaving many feeling frequently misunderstood, isolated and bewildered. Isolation and being lonely can be traumatic. 📖Brit Wilczek (2024). Autismus, Trauma und Bewältigung. 📖Step Jones (2024). The autistic survival guide to therapy.

2 years ago

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8/9

Some signs you are recovering from complex trauma

❤️ Save this reel to come back to it whenever needed.

❤️ Follow @janna.gottwald for more content on embodiment, childhood trauma and how our early years affect us as adults.

#trauma #bodywork #childhoodtrauma #cptsd #ptsd #traumarecovery #traumasurvivor #cptsdrecovery #cptsdawareness #therapy #internalfamilysystems #sensorimotorpsychotherapy #somaticexperiencing #ifs #somatictherapy #traumatherapy #developmentaltrauma #psychologistsofinstagram #therapistsofinstagram #embodiment #embodied #relationaltherapy #therapistsconnect #complextrauma #complextraumarecovery
#therapistcommunity #partswork #partsworktherapy

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Some signs you are recovering from complex trauma ❤️ Save this reel to come back to it whenever needed. ❤️ Follow @janna.gottwald for more content on embodiment, childhood trauma and how our early years affect us as adults. #trauma #bodywork #childhoodtrauma #cptsd #ptsd #traumarecovery #traumasurvivor #cptsdrecovery #cptsdawareness #therapy #internalfamilysystems #sensorimotorpsychotherapy #somaticexperiencing #ifs #somatictherapy #traumatherapy #developmentaltrauma #psychologistsofinstagram #therapistsofinstagram #embodiment #embodied #relationaltherapy #therapistsconnect #complextrauma #complextraumarecovery #therapistcommunity #partswork #partsworktherapy

2 years ago

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9/9

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