Inner Bloom Therapy

Healing people pleasing behaviors is HARD! Although it is hard work, you are just as worthy of expressing your needs and boundaries as everyone else. It is okay if it takes some practice!

The struggle is real people… 😩 Expressing your needs or setting boundaries can be incredibly challenging for those of us who have a people-pleasing tendency, often known as the „fawn“ response. This is actually a trauma response, often rooted in your childhood. It’s not just about being nice, overly empathetic, or agreeable; it’s a deeply ingrained survival mechanism that kicks in because, at some point (probably in your childhood), being overly accommodating was absolutely necessary for your emotional or even physical safety. Your nervous system learns to adapt in ways that help you avoid further harm. For some, this means fighting back or fleeing, but for others, it means freezing or fawning—essentially trying to make yourself as likable and non-threatening as possible to avoid conflict or danger. This response can carry over into your adult life, long after the immediate threat has passed, and become your default way of interacting with others. Can you relate to this ⬇️ ➡️ You worry that asserting your needs will lead to rejection or abandonment. When you’ve learned that your safety depends on being accepted by others, the idea of being disliked or dismissed feels terrifying. ➡️There’s often a sense of guilt or shame associated with putting your needs first. You’ve been conditioned to believe that it’s selfish or wrong to do so, even though it’s actually healthy and necessary. ➡️You tend to be extremely conflict-averse. The mere possibility of confrontation or disagreement can trigger your fight-or-flight response, making it seem easier to just go along with what others want. ➡️Trauma can impact your self-esteem, making you feel like your needs are less important than those of others. You might not feel worthy of asking for what you need or believe that your boundaries deserve respect. If this this you - it’s time to start your healing journey with my mini-course❤️‍🩹 Send me a message with ‘START’ and I’ll send you the link! #boundaries #emotionalneglect #emotionalabuse #cptsd #peoplepleaser #traumaresponse #traumainformed #traumarecovery #traumasurvivor #traumatherapist #selfawareness #mentalhealth #insecure #howtoheal #healing #innerpeace

You can strive to heal trauma, show up more in your relationships and with yourself, and foster growth within your life, AND believe that you are good enough now ❤️ You deserve both.

Winter is coming, and days are getting shorter! Sometimes we need to do a little more to take care of our mental health during this season. Here are some tips that may help you stay balanced during this time!

May your words and your house be full of love, light, and positivity 🩷

Are you wanting to speak more kindly to yourself, but you struggle with making change? Picture yourself as a child (maybe even print out and carry a picture of yourself as a child), and filter your self talk with that young sweet child in your mind. You deserve the same patience and support you would show to them!

Between sessions today I got to practice a skill from my Vagus Nerve Deck! These cards have exercises on them that help regulate the nervous system. My clients and I use these exercises in session to tone our vagus nerves and to add to their toolbox of skills they can utilize out of session.

These skills utilize body movements to send signals to the brain of safety and connection. They can even feel like a little gift to ourselves!

Do you want to know one simple task that can impact your view of the world and yourself? Gift yourself with positive messaging! Look at yourself in the mirror every day and say "I love you!" (you can even use a sticky note to remember). If you do this every day, you will notice a difference in your self image and your outlook on life. We deserve to love ourselves! ❤️

This is one of my safe spaces. On the pages of this notebook, I am able to express any thought or feeling that I am not ready to share with others, I can process disappointments and things I am excited for, I can write about things that I hope to achieve some day, and I can check in with myself. No one is judging me here, and I am the main character of every story. I decorate it with stickers relevant to my life at the moment, and I always use a fun colorful pen.

Journaling is more than just writing thoughts down on a page, for many people it is a tool for emotional regulation. Join the movement to nurture your mental well-being through journaling! You have the opportunity to cultivate your own safe space that can be carried with you wherever you go.

"So today, I will at least make the effort to leave guilt and self-judgment aside. I will give myself permission to not know how to do something, and I will do it anyway, as well as I can, trusting that I have been designed to learn in just this way." - Jeff Kober ❤️

An excellent short clip about guilt, shame, and forgiveness of self. We don't usually expect other people to do things perfectly without ever making mistakes (hopefully for the sake of your mental health this is true for you). Why do we hold ourselves to unattainable standards?

Learning to Forgive Yourself and Let Go of Shame | Day Shift Jeff Kober explains where guilt comes from, why we feel it, and how we should handle it. Guilt is a part of being human but in order to live beyind our human...

Do you find that you say 'no' to yourself while saying yes to others? This can begin with people telling us how we 'should' act, dress, speak, etc. and can permeate through so many aspects of our lives that we forget how to listen to our inner knowing- our intuition. Sometimes it becomes necessary to evaluate our daily habits and thoughts to determine if we are doing these things for ourselves, or if we are living our lives for others and totally abandoning ourselves. You deserve to prioritize yourself ❤️

For those who enjoy podcasts- Rainn Wilson hosts a fascinating weekly podcast series. I loved his recent episode with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ❤️

Gurudev, Does World Peace Start in the Heart? | Soul Boom | Ep 25 Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar joins Rainn Wilson to explore the essence of spirituality and its role in transforming personal and global peace. They discuss t...