Adoptive Father Writes About Coping with His Own Secondary Trauma & Anger

I write about parenting as a high ACE scorer. But many here (in this group and in the wider network) have lower ACE scores than their children. This is an essay by a father with secondary trauma writing about anger and self-care as he parents, advocates, educates and manages day to day challenges.

The full article in entitled, How Did I Become So Angry, written by Donald Craig Peterson. Here's an excerpt:

Constantly fighting battles on the front line can consume anyone. And the symptoms of secondary trauma are nothing for a parent to take lightly.

I finally made a conscious choice.

Whenever possible, I would avoid contact with anyone who could marginalize me. Instead, I would surround myself with people who embraced my family and me.

I call it self-care around the clock.

That meant leaving our church. That meant identifying new mental health providers. That meant choosing different schools. That meant limiting time with certain family members. That meant discovering a new group of friends.

This new mentality was the only way to survive.

Read more here.  

And if you have blogs or articles or resources to share with this group, please do. Or ask me to do so on your behalf. If you have experience or expertise you'd like to share in a chat, please let me know via comment or message. Thanks!