When you come to a point of realization that someone in your life has a pattern of mistreating, controlling, manipulating, coercing you, etc., and you begin to set boundaries with them, you may likely experience anxiety, doubt, and/or guilt. It will be normal to feel guilt over how “mean” what you’re doing is to them, because they may have often declared their goodness to you, and they may feel entitled to your trust because they never “intentionally” hurt you.

I listened to the most recent episode of @HiddenBrain today, and hearing some brave women share their stories made me think about how important it is to educate ourselves about trauma responses.

CW/TW: sexual assault

npr.org/player/embed/5… It is very common for folks to hear someone share about abuse, assault, or other traumatic experiences, and then give some retort about how the survivor should have said no, fought back, resisted better, etc.