176: Supporting Partners of Trauma Survivors

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Welcome back to Therapy Chat! In today's episode, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C speaks to Heather Tuba about her work supporting partners of people who are survivors of trauma.  

Heather offers a beautiful perspective on her important work, which is much needed since and estimated 80% of adults in the US have experienced trauma in childhood. While the public is gradually becoming more aware of trauma survivors' needs for support, their partners are often overlooked and Heather has been working tirelessly to change that. 

Heather Tuba is a writer, advocate, and certified trauma recovery coach. She is the founder of Heather Tuba Trauma-Informed Partner Support, a website dedicated to partners of survivors. She is also the founder of and Partners to Survivors with Complex PTSD, the only online support group for those in intimate relationships with adults with C-PTSD. She is the author of two resource guides for partners and offers one-on-one coaching support as well as educational consults for professionals interested in learning how to better support partners. 

Heather’s work is a result of her personal experience as a partner. When her husband of twenty years began to experience once-dissociated memories of childhood abuse, their life was turned upside down. Not only was she left with the task of finding him help, she knew she needed support. Finding none, she began to blog about childhood trauma and in 2017, focused exclusively on partners. 

Her areas of expertise include partner care, specifically the impact of dissociation and dissociated parts on partner relationships, and supporting yourself while your partner is in recovery. She is a fervent advocate for partners, most of whom are in situations of overwhelm and exhaustion. Her belief is that support groups and one-on-one support can help alleviate the stress on both partners and survivors. 

Resources 

Find Heather Tuba at - www.heathertuba.com 

Click here for Therapy Chat episode 128 with Dr. David Treleaven, on trauma sensitive mindfulness. 

Here is a past episode of Therapy Chat: When Your Partner Doesn't Understand Trauma about a common problem of misunderstanding in relationships where there is trauma. 

Are you a therapist needing support to sharpen your clinical skills in working with trauma survivors? Want to work with Laura for clinical consultation? Get in touch via laura@bahealing.com. Or if you're interested in joining an upcoming online or in person clinical consultation group, go here to sign up on the interest list! 

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