One Planet Healing

01/04/2024

11/08/2023

I have never known a time when trauma wasn’t the basis of my life.

I experienced extreme trauma as a child and adolescent, then trauma motivated by behaviors as an adult. I was hospitalized many times, wrongly medicated and diagnosed, and then I was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

I spent the next two decades integrating, researching, and learning from myself and the people I worked with.

It’s been a very traumatic life.

However, now I have developed what I refer to as a “trauma-free” identity. Trauma no longer motivates my behavior, I have learned how to get my needs met in life-serving ways, I am rarely dysregulated, and I can self-soothe.

I have learned so much about trauma-motivating behaviors that I created a trauma resolution modality, the Trauma Response Syndrome Model, and co-founded One Planet Healing.

I have lost a lifetime to trauma and have also gained freedom. I have grieved my losses and embrace the life I can now create.

Recovery is possible.

Love, Kim

11/07/2023

One aspect of One Planet Healing direct care is intended for individuals who want to enhance their self-awareness and trauma resolution journey with the Trauma Response Syndrome Model.

The TRS Model focuses on how trauma motivates our behavior. We work with people to understand why they do the things they do and how they can replace those things with self-serving coping skills.
We work with people utilizing any trauma response they have learned to try and get their needs met. We recognize that all behaviors meet needs, and there is no judgment.
HOW IS DIRECT CARE DIFFERENT FROM THERAPY?
Traditionally, in talk therapy, the individual spends most of the time talking about themselves and their experiences. Therapists generally advise people on how to solve problems and grow from experiences. One Planet Healing (OPH) Trauma Specialists assist their clients in seeing how their trauma impacts their behaviors through education on the Trauma Response Syndrome Model. It is common in OPH direct care for our specialists to spend quite a bit of the session asking questions, educating, and sharing their perspectives on the situation. It is up to the individual impacted by trauma to decide what is best for them.
HOW IS DIRECT CARE SIMILAR TO THERAPY?
Similarly to talk therapists, Trauma Response Syndrome Model Specialists recommend meeting once a week for an extended time. Therapy and direct care share a common goal. Both healing platforms focus on self-awareness and personal growth for the people they serve.

11/04/2023

As you may know, we took October off of our Instagram lives, and now we are starting again. Join us on November 6th at 11 a.m. for our Instagram live about trauma as a public health issue.

According to Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, trauma is the most significant public health issue due to the high utilization of services by people impacted by trauma. It is the One Planet Healing perspective that this reality is due to treatment modalities that do not meet the needs of the people served. People are misdiagnosed and wrongly medicated, therefore never getting any better. People are dependent on systems that do not offer recovery but only teach people they can learn to manage symptoms. Learn more on today’s live!

10/08/2023

Have you considered how diagnoses impact people's lives?

For some people, a diagnosis is a relief. They feel they finally have the answers they have been searching for. They are happy to take the prescribed medication and may or may not improve.

But what if the diagnosis is incorrect and, therefore, the medication is wrongfully prescribed?

I had 25 (mis) diagnoses during my time in the mental health system and am a victim of prescribed harm. I also had many derogatory statements and incorrect assumptions about me in my medical records. I have had a lifetime of dealing with doctors, nurses, social workers, and anyone with access to my records who treat me like I am drug-seeking, lying, manipulative, and other horrible experiences.

Fortunately, this reality only backs my claims in the work I do. But what about the millions of people with incorrect diagnoses in their records and whose insurance is billed? It is possible these diagnoses can come back to haunt them, and they deserve to have the truth in any document written about them.

One Planet Healing strongly advocates for informed diagnosing, when people have direct input on their treatment plans, including what diagnoses they are given. They can agree or not and ask for a more comfortable diagnosis.

Learn how you can become an advocate for informed diagnosing at One Planet Healing!

10/08/2023

To be honest, I am in awe of myself.

I am finally in a place of self-acceptance. This means I am perfectly imperfect, and that is fine by me. It's more than fine because the self-hate that once drove me to want to end my life seems irrelevant now. I am meeting life on its terms and finding authentic joy.

Recovery isn’t fancy cars, tons of money, or huge lives (it can include that), but true healing, for me, is a quiet inner peace that allows me to be calm in the face of tragedy, the suffering of others (even when projected onto me) and a relationship with myself based on love and compassion.

I made the conscious decision (and it had to be conscious) to remain on this earth and hold my fragmented parts in my arms, and gently rock them into integration. I am a whole person who no longer depends on dissociation to meet my needs. I have a calm body. I am not dysregulated. I am not easily triggered. I am no longer afraid of the world.

It has taken me two decades to find trauma resolution, and now, at 51, I can create the life I want to live. It’s never too late. I am not bitter. I am grateful that I am where I am.

And I am damn proud of myself~Love, Kim

10/06/2023

The number one tip for panic attacks is to process and resolve the underlying trauma that often causes them. The medical model tells us that panic attacks are a disorder, but for people with histories of trauma, there is a root cause.

For many of us, the trauma that causes feelings of dysregulation, or anxiety, begins in the womb as we react to the experiences of our mothers. Essentially, many of us are born in a perpetual state of fear.

Our environment often reinforces these experiences and interactions with others as we age.

However, anxiety and panic attacks aren’t only about the brain and central nervous system.
The root could be fear, loss of control, feelings of failure and not being good enough, and a manifestation of trauma.

Experiencing panic attacks can be incredibly distressing, but some techniques and strategies may help you manage and cope. Here are some tips for dealing with panic attacks:

The most difficult but important tip is to detach from the story associated with the panic attack. Very often, panic attacks are triggered by feelings of abandonment. These feelings are the most painful, and so is the fear triggered by a breakup (for instance).

The goal is to learn to detach from the story, thoughts, pain, and rumination about the person and focus ONLY on getting grounded.

Learn how to talk yourself up rather than down;

I am safe, I am an adult, I have options, etc. vs. I will never see him again, I am all alone, I will never survive.

This is just one tiny step in learning to relate differently to our experiences, especially anxiety and fear.

Love, the One Planet Healing family

10/06/2023

One of the most difficult realities of trauma recovery is the tremendous grief from the potential loss of our family of origin.

One of the strongest motivations for behaviors is maintaining our family systems, meaning we will engage in self-destructive behaviors to continue attempting to get our needs met by incapable people.

Everyone at One Planet Healing has lost their families in one way or another from trauma. We know the immense grief from wanting and deserving to be loved, supported, and cared about by people too traumatized to provide this.

This is why we see ourselves as potential families for anyone who has lost their own. Sometimes, family bonds are stronger than “blood bonds.”

Reach out. We are here to provide the unconditional love that true family offers.

Love, the One Planet Healing family

09/21/2023

I would tell her not to take on everyone's emotions. It's not your responsibility. Let go 💓

Feelin' It Friday!

09/21/2023

The current social construct of psychiatry and medicalizing human suffering is a dangerous paradigm. It is not a conspiracy theory to know that “Big Pharma” has its hands in keeping people in the business of staying “mentally ill” and sick. In addition, psychiatry is also in bed with pharmaceutical companies. Medication is their Big Business. We aren’t saying that medication isn’t necessary. It actually helps some people. We are saying that people deserve to be in the know.

One Planet Healing is not anti-psychiatry, anti-medication or anti-diagnosing. However, we are pro-informed consent and informed diagnoses. We believe people need to know and deserve to know exactly what their medications are actually used for side effects, adverse effects, and potential withdrawal effects. In addition, people deserve to know their diagnoses and be allowed to change them if they disagree. Diagnoses go on our permanent medical records.

People also deserve options, which we also educate people on.

We assist people in understanding their medications, why they have their diagnoses, and how to advocate for themselves if they need to go into the mental health system.

Everything we do at One Planet Healing is about putting the power back into the hands of people impacted by trauma. We provide education opportunities, support, and information to empower the people we serve!

Love, the One Planet Healing Family

07/14/2023

This is so tough 🥲

Some things can't be changed