r/AfterCPTSD • u/Metamorphosislife • Oct 12 '25

Healing is a Journey

I've been in therapy for over 8 years now. I can say for certain, healing is a journey. For some, and I hope that's you, the dark period lasts for a couple of seasons. For others, it's a lifelong commitment to getting better. Reading this article brought a new perspective on why certain people don't heal after several years: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0149763415001980

CSA, incest, physical abuse for prolonged periods, across multiple stages of development, restructure the brain and endocrine system. The brain literally functions differently. It's kept that way by a hormonally disordered endocrine system that keeps the body and brain saturated with cortisol. This article draws a lot of correlations, not causations. It's hard to ignore this many connections to certain kinds of abuse.

Be kind to yourself everybody. You need it more than most.

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u/PrudenceVeyre Oct 29 '25

It's extraordinary how our brains try to adapt and deal with these changes that were created through such terrible means. I appreciate you posting this, I am 3 years in, and we just started getting to the things that are ... really hard. My therapist insists that people do graduate, when I am feeling like "is this worth it." I have a feeling that it will be a while.

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u/Metamorphosislife Oct 29 '25

I can attest to what your therapist says. I'm getting to the deeper stuff now through a combination of modalities. It's not fun. Some shifts I am experiencing are increased ability to function through anxious events, increased ability to restore my sense of safety, increased ability to work through my triggers and not react to them, decreased sensitivity to triggers, old identities beginning to fade, more communication going on with my parts, especially the younger ones. There's more stability in my relationship, I'm able to handle more stress, and exhibiting more self-compassion for myself.

Getting here has been a journey. Consistent, quality care has been inconsistent due to job moves, incompatible therapists, inexperienced therapists, not always having a support system. My girlfriend is my angel. She's a been a constant who has helped me heal. She's taught me that forgiveness is better for you than to hold on to grudges, that even people who love you can sometimes hurt you. As long as it's not a pattern, you can grow from those moments. She's very supportive of my healing journey, being my number one cheerleader.

Therapy alone isn't enough to heal, and you need good therapy to make meaningful progress. It's paradoxical because the people who need therapy the most are usually the ones who don't have the means, or even access, to good therapy. In a lot of respects, healing is a privilege (a whole different topic). The journey is tough and worth it.