A 🇨🇦
@maciejko.bsky.social
From Treaty 1 territory, the east of the Canadian Prairies, amateur photographer, and struggling individual. https://substack.com/@chanteohitika
So, um… I am a graduate student…
August 13, 2025 at 9:48 PM
So, um… I am a graduate student…
I am continually having to remind myself that I am running a marathon, not a 100 meter sprint.
One of the hardest skills for many trauma survivors, including me, to learn in recovery is pacing. We've been trying to run a marathon in bursts of high intensity intervals, & it's been hell on our joints & adrenals.
"Slow & steady" is often a new, suspicious concept for us.
"Slow & steady" is often a new, suspicious concept for us.
April 22, 2025 at 7:20 PM
I am continually having to remind myself that I am running a marathon, not a 100 meter sprint.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Telling a trauma survivor who has been functionally on their own since they were a kid that they "have" to "reach out" for "relational healing" disrespects & misunderstands their wound.
The only "have to" in trauma recovery is, we have to find a recovery path that works for us.
The only "have to" in trauma recovery is, we have to find a recovery path that works for us.
March 27, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Telling a trauma survivor who has been functionally on their own since they were a kid that they "have" to "reach out" for "relational healing" disrespects & misunderstands their wound.
The only "have to" in trauma recovery is, we have to find a recovery path that works for us.
The only "have to" in trauma recovery is, we have to find a recovery path that works for us.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
You didn't know what you didn't know at the time, & you couldn't do what you couldn't do. True honesty w/ yourself is going to have to include grace for your past self-- as well as accountability for yourself now, to do better as you develop new tools & supports.
Easy does it.
Easy does it.
March 23, 2025 at 4:16 PM
You didn't know what you didn't know at the time, & you couldn't do what you couldn't do. True honesty w/ yourself is going to have to include grace for your past self-- as well as accountability for yourself now, to do better as you develop new tools & supports.
Easy does it.
Easy does it.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Humility is more important in a therapist than intelligence.
Give me a therapist who is acutely aware of their many limitations & actively working to learn & grow & make amends over a "brilliant" therapist any day.
Give me a therapist who is acutely aware of their many limitations & actively working to learn & grow & make amends over a "brilliant" therapist any day.
March 12, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Humility is more important in a therapist than intelligence.
Give me a therapist who is acutely aware of their many limitations & actively working to learn & grow & make amends over a "brilliant" therapist any day.
Give me a therapist who is acutely aware of their many limitations & actively working to learn & grow & make amends over a "brilliant" therapist any day.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Mourn. Don't be ashamed. Don't let anyone shame you for the desire or need to mourn.
Whether "they" think your attachment to what or who you lost is legitimate or valid or understandable doesn't matter. Literally couldn't matter less.
You get to mourn.
Whether "they" think your attachment to what or who you lost is legitimate or valid or understandable doesn't matter. Literally couldn't matter less.
You get to mourn.
March 12, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Mourn. Don't be ashamed. Don't let anyone shame you for the desire or need to mourn.
Whether "they" think your attachment to what or who you lost is legitimate or valid or understandable doesn't matter. Literally couldn't matter less.
You get to mourn.
Whether "they" think your attachment to what or who you lost is legitimate or valid or understandable doesn't matter. Literally couldn't matter less.
You get to mourn.
The world keeps saying to me, “no, not that,”it seems. When am I going to get a yes?
March 12, 2025 at 3:35 PM
The world keeps saying to me, “no, not that,”it seems. When am I going to get a yes?
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Trauma informed practice emphasizes psychoeducation, because survivors learning about what is happening in their brain & body supports them in making informed choices, choosing appropriate recovery tools, & levels the power imbalance in the therapy relationship at least a little.
March 8, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Trauma informed practice emphasizes psychoeducation, because survivors learning about what is happening in their brain & body supports them in making informed choices, choosing appropriate recovery tools, & levels the power imbalance in the therapy relationship at least a little.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Therapy is political because everything is political when a few select people in power are making decisions for all that impact, at the very basic level, their health, bodies, and wellbeing.
#TherapyIsPolitical
#TherapistSky
#TherapyIsPolitical
#TherapistSky
February 6, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Therapy is political because everything is political when a few select people in power are making decisions for all that impact, at the very basic level, their health, bodies, and wellbeing.
#TherapyIsPolitical
#TherapistSky
#TherapyIsPolitical
#TherapistSky
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
I was delighted that The National did a quick segment on the googly-eyed hockey stick border guards. Feels like the perfect Canadian smartass response to the moment. #cdnpoli www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
#TheMoment a Manitoba family deployed googly-eyed hockey sticks to poke fun at Trump
Shannon Proudfoot, Aaron Maciejko, and KJ de Groot recount the moment googly-eyed hockey sticks were stuck in a snowbank to poke fun at Donald Trump and his demand for 24/7 eyes on the border.
www.cbc.ca
February 6, 2025 at 8:06 PM
I was delighted that The National did a quick segment on the googly-eyed hockey stick border guards. Feels like the perfect Canadian smartass response to the moment. #cdnpoli www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Acknowledging our progress & giving ourselves credit isn't about "ego"-- for many trauma survivors, it's a goddamn revolutionary act.
Self-esteem isn't about achievement. It's about behaving consistently w/ our goals & values, & having our own back. We deserve credit for that.
Self-esteem isn't about achievement. It's about behaving consistently w/ our goals & values, & having our own back. We deserve credit for that.
November 24, 2024 at 3:07 PM
Acknowledging our progress & giving ourselves credit isn't about "ego"-- for many trauma survivors, it's a goddamn revolutionary act.
Self-esteem isn't about achievement. It's about behaving consistently w/ our goals & values, & having our own back. We deserve credit for that.
Self-esteem isn't about achievement. It's about behaving consistently w/ our goals & values, & having our own back. We deserve credit for that.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
So many trauma survivors grow up feeling or believing we're "stupid" or "incompetent" or "lazy"-- when the reality is, it was our intelligence, competence, & industriousness that actually made it possible for us to keep all those plates spinning.
Right up until we couldn't.
Right up until we couldn't.
November 8, 2024 at 6:05 PM
So many trauma survivors grow up feeling or believing we're "stupid" or "incompetent" or "lazy"-- when the reality is, it was our intelligence, competence, & industriousness that actually made it possible for us to keep all those plates spinning.
Right up until we couldn't.
Right up until we couldn't.
Submitted my application for grad school today. Feeling a little proud and a little anxious.
November 7, 2024 at 10:38 PM
Submitted my application for grad school today. Feeling a little proud and a little anxious.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
When a society breaks stuff faster than it heals stuff you get the world we've got.
When a society heals more than it breaks, well...that is a world we could have, with discernment, mindfulness (and a wholly different economic system).
When a society heals more than it breaks, well...that is a world we could have, with discernment, mindfulness (and a wholly different economic system).
October 29, 2024 at 12:41 PM
When a society breaks stuff faster than it heals stuff you get the world we've got.
When a society heals more than it breaks, well...that is a world we could have, with discernment, mindfulness (and a wholly different economic system).
When a society heals more than it breaks, well...that is a world we could have, with discernment, mindfulness (and a wholly different economic system).
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Today may or may not be awesome in terms of how we feel or function. But even if today is complete ass, we gotta keep talking to ourselves w/ fairness & love. We can't let how we relate to ourselves be dictated by whether today sucks.
Trauma recovery doesn't take days off.
Trauma recovery doesn't take days off.
May 9, 2024 at 1:34 AM
Today may or may not be awesome in terms of how we feel or function. But even if today is complete ass, we gotta keep talking to ourselves w/ fairness & love. We can't let how we relate to ourselves be dictated by whether today sucks.
Trauma recovery doesn't take days off.
Trauma recovery doesn't take days off.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
For many survivors, a "flashbulb" trauma in the recent past is the thing that finally gets us considering how our history impacts how we think about & relate to ourselves-- & we realize we've been a trauma survivor much longer than we thought.
No shame. That's really common.
No shame. That's really common.
March 31, 2024 at 5:30 PM
For many survivors, a "flashbulb" trauma in the recent past is the thing that finally gets us considering how our history impacts how we think about & relate to ourselves-- & we realize we've been a trauma survivor much longer than we thought.
No shame. That's really common.
No shame. That's really common.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Many trauma survivors have kind of this tortured relationship w/ hope. We desperately want it, need it-- but it feels scary. We've been burned (sometimes literally).
Easy does it. Post traumatic hope often has to start w/ micro dosing possibility thinking.
Easy does it. Post traumatic hope often has to start w/ micro dosing possibility thinking.
March 10, 2024 at 5:50 PM
Many trauma survivors have kind of this tortured relationship w/ hope. We desperately want it, need it-- but it feels scary. We've been burned (sometimes literally).
Easy does it. Post traumatic hope often has to start w/ micro dosing possibility thinking.
Easy does it. Post traumatic hope often has to start w/ micro dosing possibility thinking.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Calling a trigger "stupid" in our head makes us feel stupid for being triggered by it. It doesn't help us manage it. It makes it worse-- because now we have to deal w/ the trigger, plus embarrassment or shame.
We gotta watch our self-talk around triggers. It matters.
We gotta watch our self-talk around triggers. It matters.
March 3, 2024 at 5:08 PM
Calling a trigger "stupid" in our head makes us feel stupid for being triggered by it. It doesn't help us manage it. It makes it worse-- because now we have to deal w/ the trigger, plus embarrassment or shame.
We gotta watch our self-talk around triggers. It matters.
We gotta watch our self-talk around triggers. It matters.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Trauma recovery that requires us to be someone other than who we authentically are is not actual recovery.
Real recovery is us repairing our relationship w/ ourselves-- not bypassing our wounds by inventing a "recovery persona." That's what happens in cults, not recovery.
Real recovery is us repairing our relationship w/ ourselves-- not bypassing our wounds by inventing a "recovery persona." That's what happens in cults, not recovery.
February 27, 2024 at 6:09 PM
Trauma recovery that requires us to be someone other than who we authentically are is not actual recovery.
Real recovery is us repairing our relationship w/ ourselves-- not bypassing our wounds by inventing a "recovery persona." That's what happens in cults, not recovery.
Real recovery is us repairing our relationship w/ ourselves-- not bypassing our wounds by inventing a "recovery persona." That's what happens in cults, not recovery.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
It can be wildly triggering to trauma survivors to have someone coming at us w/ confident assumptions about what we "really" think, what our motivations are, etc. Our personhood was functionally erased in many of our early relationships. We don't need that sh*t from people now.
February 21, 2024 at 1:13 AM
It can be wildly triggering to trauma survivors to have someone coming at us w/ confident assumptions about what we "really" think, what our motivations are, etc. Our personhood was functionally erased in many of our early relationships. We don't need that sh*t from people now.
I hate my life… What is the point in trying to fix yourself when you seem to get abandoned by those who say they are trying to help you… my life sucks.
February 16, 2024 at 9:24 PM
I hate my life… What is the point in trying to fix yourself when you seem to get abandoned by those who say they are trying to help you… my life sucks.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
That capacity to feel so deeply, which causes us so much pain because we're so, so sensitive to every bump in the road...it's also a secret superpower.
I'm tellin' ya: if the world's gonna heal, it's gonna be Highly Sensitive People who lead the way.
I'm tellin' ya: if the world's gonna heal, it's gonna be Highly Sensitive People who lead the way.
February 15, 2024 at 9:25 PM
That capacity to feel so deeply, which causes us so much pain because we're so, so sensitive to every bump in the road...it's also a secret superpower.
I'm tellin' ya: if the world's gonna heal, it's gonna be Highly Sensitive People who lead the way.
I'm tellin' ya: if the world's gonna heal, it's gonna be Highly Sensitive People who lead the way.
Reposted by A 🇨🇦
Because trauma has made intimacy & relationships complicated for us doesn't mean we're not in a relationship because there's something "wrong" w/ us or "broken" about us. It means what it means-- we've seen & experienced sh*t that makes attachment complicated. No more; no less.
February 15, 2024 at 8:26 PM
Because trauma has made intimacy & relationships complicated for us doesn't mean we're not in a relationship because there's something "wrong" w/ us or "broken" about us. It means what it means-- we've seen & experienced sh*t that makes attachment complicated. No more; no less.