Nate Postlethwait
@natepost.bsky.social
Writer. My thoughts on healing. Survivors POV
🎥 Nate_Postlethwait
🎙️ A Little Less Lonely
Connect @ linktr.ee/natepost
🎥 Nate_Postlethwait
🎙️ A Little Less Lonely
Connect @ linktr.ee/natepost
The people who choose to heal from a dysfunctional family, are trusting themselves to be an example of someone they've never had. Brave as hell.
December 27, 2025 at 9:55 PM
The people who choose to heal from a dysfunctional family, are trusting themselves to be an example of someone they've never had. Brave as hell.
I wish people understood that when someone seems to overexplain, it’s often because of how much they’ve been misunderstood. They’re trying to give you information that they assume is hard to understand based on how they’ve been treated. This deserves compassion, not criticism.
December 21, 2025 at 7:20 PM
I wish people understood that when someone seems to overexplain, it’s often because of how much they’ve been misunderstood. They’re trying to give you information that they assume is hard to understand based on how they’ve been treated. This deserves compassion, not criticism.
Please stop spending your time trying to be understood by people who have contributed to your trauma, but never to your healing.
December 10, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Please stop spending your time trying to be understood by people who have contributed to your trauma, but never to your healing.
“You’re still hurt by that? That was a long time ago!”
Not to a nervous system. Abusive behavior puts a brain on constant alert to send warning so it doesn’t happen again. It was a long time ago for the perpetrators, but survivors remember & experience it like it was yesterday.
Not to a nervous system. Abusive behavior puts a brain on constant alert to send warning so it doesn’t happen again. It was a long time ago for the perpetrators, but survivors remember & experience it like it was yesterday.
December 8, 2025 at 7:25 PM
“You’re still hurt by that? That was a long time ago!”
Not to a nervous system. Abusive behavior puts a brain on constant alert to send warning so it doesn’t happen again. It was a long time ago for the perpetrators, but survivors remember & experience it like it was yesterday.
Not to a nervous system. Abusive behavior puts a brain on constant alert to send warning so it doesn’t happen again. It was a long time ago for the perpetrators, but survivors remember & experience it like it was yesterday.
To understand the life of a person with cPTSD, is to understand they’ve experienced multiple traumas and after each one, people taught them how to adapt to that pain, rather than making the traumas stop.
December 6, 2025 at 1:03 AM
To understand the life of a person with cPTSD, is to understand they’ve experienced multiple traumas and after each one, people taught them how to adapt to that pain, rather than making the traumas stop.
It’s typical of dysfunctional families to blame a person for speaking up about the dysfunction, rather than address it. That’s called scapegoating. The scapegoat is often a bright light and no one hates that more than those willing to remain in the dark.
December 2, 2025 at 6:41 PM
It’s typical of dysfunctional families to blame a person for speaking up about the dysfunction, rather than address it. That’s called scapegoating. The scapegoat is often a bright light and no one hates that more than those willing to remain in the dark.
An honest child will pay a significant price in a family or home where truths are hidden.
November 27, 2025 at 7:42 PM
An honest child will pay a significant price in a family or home where truths are hidden.
There’s nothing normal about expecting family members to be in the same room when one has abused the other. This is abnormal. This is harmful. This is perpetuating more abusive patterns. When you elevate family traditions over protecting the abused, you are re-creating the abuse
November 23, 2025 at 3:01 PM
There’s nothing normal about expecting family members to be in the same room when one has abused the other. This is abnormal. This is harmful. This is perpetuating more abusive patterns. When you elevate family traditions over protecting the abused, you are re-creating the abuse
You will be disrespected by people who envy your ability to be authentic. You will be dismissed by people who fear your strength in how you address your pain. You will be critiqued by oppressors as you find the things that set you free. It’s your life. Don’t slow down for them.
November 20, 2025 at 6:45 PM
You will be disrespected by people who envy your ability to be authentic. You will be dismissed by people who fear your strength in how you address your pain. You will be critiqued by oppressors as you find the things that set you free. It’s your life. Don’t slow down for them.
The scapegoat is often the empath or highly sensitive person who expresses an authentic hunger for better treatment, truth, and/or change. This is the most threatening temperament to a toxic system-familial or other.
November 14, 2025 at 6:35 PM
The scapegoat is often the empath or highly sensitive person who expresses an authentic hunger for better treatment, truth, and/or change. This is the most threatening temperament to a toxic system-familial or other.
I hope you heal from all the things your family denied happening to you.
November 9, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I hope you heal from all the things your family denied happening to you.
To those who've felt unlovable:
This is often a painful aftermath of not having support when you needed it most. I hope you find ways to love all parts of you, but especially the parts that felt rejected or like they they didn't belong.
This is often a painful aftermath of not having support when you needed it most. I hope you find ways to love all parts of you, but especially the parts that felt rejected or like they they didn't belong.
November 5, 2025 at 7:37 PM
To those who've felt unlovable:
This is often a painful aftermath of not having support when you needed it most. I hope you find ways to love all parts of you, but especially the parts that felt rejected or like they they didn't belong.
This is often a painful aftermath of not having support when you needed it most. I hope you find ways to love all parts of you, but especially the parts that felt rejected or like they they didn't belong.
Be kind to people-pleasers. Many of them were taught the only way to be accepted was to give others what they want without getting anything back. They were taught this by people that were supposed to keep them safe and teach them about love. Seriously, be kind.
November 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Be kind to people-pleasers. Many of them were taught the only way to be accepted was to give others what they want without getting anything back. They were taught this by people that were supposed to keep them safe and teach them about love. Seriously, be kind.
There are people that would rather lose you than be honest about what they’ve done to you. Let them go.
November 3, 2025 at 1:11 AM
There are people that would rather lose you than be honest about what they’ve done to you. Let them go.
A haunted house for people with cPTSD, but it's just a room full of people saying "Everything happens for a reason."
October 31, 2025 at 4:54 PM
A haunted house for people with cPTSD, but it's just a room full of people saying "Everything happens for a reason."
cPTSD is a result of not having the freedom (or access) to acknowledge and process trauma. The complex part is because the trauma was ongoing. PTSD represents specific traumatic memories. Complex PTSD presents those memories and experiences having no end.
October 26, 2025 at 2:13 PM
cPTSD is a result of not having the freedom (or access) to acknowledge and process trauma. The complex part is because the trauma was ongoing. PTSD represents specific traumatic memories. Complex PTSD presents those memories and experiences having no end.
Abuse survivors are heavily triggered by dishonest people. When you’ve sacrificed your time and security in order to figure out the truth, people who lack truth will feel like they’re pulling you back to your darkest days.
October 18, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Abuse survivors are heavily triggered by dishonest people. When you’ve sacrificed your time and security in order to figure out the truth, people who lack truth will feel like they’re pulling you back to your darkest days.
“Family is everything.”
No, healing is. And if the family is who caused the trauma, they don’t always get to participate in the healing.
No, healing is. And if the family is who caused the trauma, they don’t always get to participate in the healing.
October 15, 2025 at 7:37 PM
“Family is everything.”
No, healing is. And if the family is who caused the trauma, they don’t always get to participate in the healing.
No, healing is. And if the family is who caused the trauma, they don’t always get to participate in the healing.
An enabler will listen to you share the most harmful things someone has done to you, and then tell you you’re misunderstanding what happened. When I say enablers are just as dangerous as perpetrators, this is what I’m talking about.
October 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
An enabler will listen to you share the most harmful things someone has done to you, and then tell you you’re misunderstanding what happened. When I say enablers are just as dangerous as perpetrators, this is what I’m talking about.
We’re too quick to tell a traumatized person that it’s their responsibility to heal without considering what has been taken from them.
October 5, 2025 at 3:12 PM
We’re too quick to tell a traumatized person that it’s their responsibility to heal without considering what has been taken from them.
When a person chooses their dysfunction and denial over a healthy connection, they’re helping you make choices too.
October 1, 2025 at 5:36 PM
When a person chooses their dysfunction and denial over a healthy connection, they’re helping you make choices too.
“But forgiveness is for you!”
So is justice. So is accountability for those who hurt them. So is the anger that must be heard for them to find peace. Stop using forgiveness to shame people for healing on their own terms. If it’s for them, let them decide. Stay out of their way.
So is justice. So is accountability for those who hurt them. So is the anger that must be heard for them to find peace. Stop using forgiveness to shame people for healing on their own terms. If it’s for them, let them decide. Stay out of their way.
September 29, 2025 at 2:15 PM
“But forgiveness is for you!”
So is justice. So is accountability for those who hurt them. So is the anger that must be heard for them to find peace. Stop using forgiveness to shame people for healing on their own terms. If it’s for them, let them decide. Stay out of their way.
So is justice. So is accountability for those who hurt them. So is the anger that must be heard for them to find peace. Stop using forgiveness to shame people for healing on their own terms. If it’s for them, let them decide. Stay out of their way.
People have a hard time detecting red flags when they grow up being taught to normalize the way they were being hurt by people who were supposed to protect them.
September 27, 2025 at 2:30 PM
People have a hard time detecting red flags when they grow up being taught to normalize the way they were being hurt by people who were supposed to protect them.
When you hear someone over-explaining, know one (or all) of these is true:
1). They’ve often had their reality denied.
2). They've been hurt in unpredictable ways & believe it was because they didn't explain better.
3). They've grown up being ignored.
Please be patient.
1). They’ve often had their reality denied.
2). They've been hurt in unpredictable ways & believe it was because they didn't explain better.
3). They've grown up being ignored.
Please be patient.
September 26, 2025 at 2:29 PM
When you hear someone over-explaining, know one (or all) of these is true:
1). They’ve often had their reality denied.
2). They've been hurt in unpredictable ways & believe it was because they didn't explain better.
3). They've grown up being ignored.
Please be patient.
1). They’ve often had their reality denied.
2). They've been hurt in unpredictable ways & believe it was because they didn't explain better.
3). They've grown up being ignored.
Please be patient.
Pay close attention to any person who has issue with you wanting to live life on your own terms. Terms that don’t hurt other people. Terms that give you security and peace. Pay very close attention.
September 23, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Pay close attention to any person who has issue with you wanting to live life on your own terms. Terms that don’t hurt other people. Terms that give you security and peace. Pay very close attention.