#traume exploration/vulnerability | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aimeecabo · 1 month

Text

Utilizing the Power of Love to Overcome Trauma and Addiction with Aimee Cabo

In the journey of overcoming trauma and addiction, creating a healing environment is paramount. It's not just about physical surroundings but also about fostering emotional support and connection. Love, in its various forms, can be a powerful force in this healing process. In this blog, we'll explore how harnessing the power of love can facilitate healing, providing individuals with the support and encouragement they need to navigate the challenges of trauma and addiction recovery.

Cultivating Self-Love and Acceptance

At the core of creating a healing environment is the cultivation of self-love and acceptance. Often, individuals grappling with trauma and addiction carry deep-seated feelings of shame, guilt, and self-condemnation. Learning to embrace oneself with compassion and understanding is the first step towards healing. This involves acknowledging past mistakes and vulnerabilities without judgment, recognizing one's inherent worthiness of love and care.

Practicing self-care rituals, such as mindfulness meditation, journaling, or engaging in activities that nurture the soul, reinforces a sense of self-love and acceptance. By prioritizing their well-being and treating themselves with kindness along with inputs from professionals such as Aimee Cabo, individuals lay the groundwork for healing from within, fostering resilience in the face of adversity.

Nurturing Supportive Relationships

Love thrives in the context of supportive relationships, and nurturing such connections is vital for creating a healing environment. Surrounding oneself with individuals who offer unconditional love, empathy, and encouragement can provide a sense of safety and belonging crucial for recovery. Whether it's family, friends, or support groups, having a network of people who genuinely care can alleviate feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Effective communication within relationships fosters understanding and strengthens emotional bonds, creating a space where individuals feel heard and valued. Additionally, setting boundaries with toxic relationships that may hinder growth and perpetuate negative patterns is essential for maintaining a supportive environment conducive to healing.

Practicing Compassion Towards Others

Love extends beyond oneself to encompass compassion towards others, which plays a significant role in creating a healing environment. Engaging in acts of kindness, volunteering, or simply offering a listening ear to those in need fosters a sense of connection and empathy. By practicing compassion towards others along with inputs from experts like Aimee Cabo, individuals not only contribute to the well-being of their community but also experience a deep sense of fulfillment and purpose.

Furthermore, recognizing the humanity in others, including those who may have caused harm, allows for forgiveness and reconciliation, essential components of the healing process. Cultivating a mindset of empathy and understanding promotes healing not only for oneself but also for the broader community, fostering a culture of love and acceptance.

Fostering Emotional Safety

In a healing environment, emotional safety is paramount. Individuals recovering from trauma and addiction need to feel safe to express their emotions authentically without fear of judgment or rejection. Creating a space with the help of a professional like Aimee Cabo where vulnerability is welcomed and validated allows for the processing of painful emotions and the exploration of underlying trauma.

Practicing active listening and validation in interpersonal interactions communicates respect and empathy, fostering trust and emotional safety. Additionally, establishing predictable routines and boundaries provides a sense of stability and security, reducing anxiety and promoting emotional regulation.

Engaging in Therapeutic Modalities

Love manifests in various therapeutic modalities that promote healing from trauma and addiction. From trauma-informed therapy to art therapy, these approaches offer individuals a safe and nurturing space to explore their experiences and emotions. Therapists trained in trauma-focused interventions provide guidance and support as individuals work through their past traumas and learn healthy coping mechanisms.

Group therapy and support groups offer the opportunity for individuals to connect with others who share similar experiences, fostering a sense of belonging and solidarity. Additionally, alternative modalities such as equine therapy or wilderness therapy provide unique avenues for healing, tapping into the healing power of nature and animal-assisted interventions.

Embracing Spirituality and Mindfulness

Love transcends the material realm and finds expression in spirituality and mindfulness practices. Engaging in spiritual practices that resonate with one's beliefs, whether it's meditation, prayer, or rituals, fosters a sense of connection to something greater than oneself. This connection provides solace and comfort, offering a source of strength and guidance in times of adversity.

Mindfulness practices cultivate present-moment awareness, allowing individuals to observe their thoughts and emotions without judgment. By embracing mindfulness along with inputs from professionals like Aimee Cabo, individuals can develop greater resilience in coping with triggers and cravings associated with trauma and addiction, fostering a deeper sense of inner peace and contentment.

Creating a healing environment rooted in love is essential for individuals seeking to overcome trauma and addiction. By cultivating self-love and acceptance, nurturing supportive relationships, practicing compassion towards others, fostering emotional safety, engaging in therapeutic modalities, and embracing spirituality and mindfulness with the help of experts such as Aimee Cabo, individuals can harness the transformative power of love in their healing journey. Remember, love is not just a feeling but an action—an intentional choice to prioritize empathy, connection, and growth. In the embrace of love, healing becomes not just a possibility but a profound and transformative reality.

#aimee cabo

0 notes

thominho-incorrectquotes · 3 years

Text

I’ll never leave you alone

This is my entry for Thominho Week 2021, Day 7 “ Trauma exploration/Vulnerability ”

Characters: Thomas x Minho

2961 words

Tags: Trauma, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Post-Canon, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship

Summary: When Aris gets hurt under Minho's watch, the young leader shuts himself from everybody, including his boyfriend, Thomas, who just wants to help him.

Note: This is the last one! I had so much fun doing this, once again, and I can't wait for the next one!

You can also read it on AO3 and ff.net

________________________________

Minho had gone into the forest with a small group of people. There were supposed to gather stuff and comeback in the evenings.

Thomas was missing his boyfriend already. He hated whenever they were away from each other, even for few hours. However, he wasn't expecting to see him comeback early with an injured Aris on his back.

He immediately ran towards them.

"What happened?" he asked hastily, worry thick in his voice.

"I have to get him to the medjacks" Minho simply said, barely sparing a glance at Thomas.

"Let me help you-"

"No."

He continued way, passing by the brunet. Thomas felt like he had been shot again, this time directly in his heart. Minho had never talked to him like that. Never looked at him with such dark eyes.

Aris looked almost dead. His right leg was twisted in a weird angle and his body was hanging limp on the leader's back. Thomas didn't who was more worrying. Minho or Aris.

He followed to the medjacks' hut, hoping he would get more information there, all the while ignoring the pain in his heart.

Once there, it was confirmed Aris's leg was broken. Minho briefly explained that when they were walking pass the edge of a hill, the boy tripped and felt down. The young leader told the others to continue while he brought Aris back to Paradise.

The medjacks concluded he had no other injuries, fortunately, and was not numb from a head injury but most likely from pain. That was a relief for everyone.

For everyone except Minho who still had a dark expression on his face, as if Aris was going to die. Which was weird since he never liked the kid. He left shortly after, Thomas in his footsteps.

"Min, talk to me, are you okay?" he tried. No respond.

"Min, please… what's wrong?" Still no reply.

Taking his arm to force his boyfriend to look at him, he tried once more "Minho, babe, plea-"

"Leave me alone."

Thomas widened his eyes in shock as another bullet in his heart was shot. "Min-"

"Leave me alone, Thomas!" he repeated, louder.

"But-"

"No!" Anger could be seen in his eyes. That wasn't the first time Thomas saw Minho mad, but it had never been directed towards him. Never. It broke his heart. "Leave me the shuck alone!"

Storming off, he left a sad and confused Thomas outside the hut who was too stunt to go and follow him again.

Silent tears left his eyes. What could have happened to make his boyfriend like this? He was worried sick and hurt from being rejected. This was so unlike the man he loved. Something was wrong.

He ran to their shared cabin, where he was sure to find the young man.

But once there, the small home was empty. Maybe he was on their spot on the beach? He loved going there. But he wasn't going towards the beach when he left. So where was Minho?!

He ran back to the center of their little town, looking for one of his friends. Gally was with the group that went in the forest, so he wasn't there. Maybe Frypan? He went to the communal kitchen and sighed in relief when he saw him.

"Frypan! Have you seen where Minho went?" he asked hastily before the young man could even say a word.

"Minho? He's back?"

Shuck, not Frypan then.

He ran once again when he spotted Brenda and asked her the same question.

"I think I saw him going to one of those empty cabin we've just finished" he said. "Is there something wrong, he shouldn't be back so soo-"

"I know, Aris was injured so he brought him back, but Minho's not okay, I know that, and he doesn't want me, and-"

"Stop, stop Thomas you're panicking. I'm sure Minho's fine. Let's find him okay?"

He nodded, wiping the tears that felt during his rambling.

He let Brenda lead the way, trying to calm himself down and ease the pain in his chest. They arrived in front of a cabin that was inhabited, but still looked like any other they've built over the past year.

As the young women stayed back, knowing it was probably better to let Thomas and Minho alone, the brunet knocked on the door.

"Min? You there?"

No answers.

"Min? It's Thomas, if you're there, please talk to me…"

He went to open the door, but something was blocking it. So Minho was indeed there. More tears started falling. His boyfriend was really rejecting him and he had no idea why.

"Babe, please, open the door. There's something wro-"

"GO AWAY!" a voice screamed. Minho.

"No, I'm not go-"

"SHUCK OFF, THOMAS, LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The boy stumbled back as he was once again hit by pain. "Min-"

"It's no use Thomas" Brenda intervened. "He needs to be alone now, okay? We should respect that."

But Thomas only stared at the house, he couldn't leave it.

"Come on Thomas, let's go back-"

"I'm staying" he told her. He sat next to the door, wiping away the tears. Minho would have to come out eventually and Thomas was willing to wait. He would wait forever for his boyfriend.

Brenda sighed and went back with the others, knowing it was futile to argue with the stubborn boy.

Thomas waited. For hours. The sun was declining, showing the day was soon coming to an end. Frypan came, bringing two plates of food.

"Thanks Fry" Thomas said, taking the plates. It smelled good and his stomach grumbled in agreement.

"Still there?" the other man asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah…"

"You should leav-"

"No. Thanks for the food."

He went back to the cabin, cutting off any discussion. He couldn't leave Minho alone. His boyfriend was hurting, for an unknown reason. He was also hurting from this situation and the only way to comfort him was to be as close as possible to his lover. Even if there was a wall between them.

He put one of the plates in front of the door before knocking on it. "Minho, there is food for you."

He was meet with silence. Sighing, he sat down again and ate his food in silence.

It's only later, when Minho's plate of food was stone cold, that another head appeared. Gally. The group was back.

The blond had a weird expression on his face. Something between confusion, sadness and concern. And for one second, Thomas imagined the worst.

"Is Aris-" he said.

"Aris is fine. He will be." Gally interrupted him. "I'm more concern about him" he added, pointing at the house.

Oh. Gally, worried about Minho? That was first. And very concerning. The dislike the two young men had for each other was known by everyone in Paradise. Even if Gally and Thomas have become friends, Minho still hold grudges against the ex-Keeper.

"Come with me" the young man said, "we need to talk about what happened back there."

As much as Thomas didn't want to leave Minho, the urge to know how things has led to this took over him and he followed his friend.

Once they were far enough, Gally explained.

"It was weird. We were all worried when Aris felt down and didn't move, but Minho was panicking, and we both know how he feels about the shank." Thomas nodded; his boyfriend didn't like the boy. "He was on his side in few seconds" Gally continued. "And when we said two should bring him back, he dismissed everyone and went on his own, carrying the boy on his back."

Minho being protective wasn't unusual. But Minho being protective over someone else then Thomas was.

"I-I don't know what to think about it…"

"Me neither" Gally sighed. "But whatever it is, I'm sure there is something deeper than just Minho taking care of a friend."

The brunet bit his lips to stop them from shaking. This was the worst. He hoped the blond man would know more than that.

"Well. Thanks for telling me."

As he was going back towards the cabin, he was stopped by Gally.

"You should go sleep Greenie."

"Not until Minh-"

"He's not gonna leave this house today, Greenie. Try again tomorrow, maybe he'll be in a better mind."

"No, I-" he tried to argue before getting interrupted by Gally again.

"Don't make me force you…"

"Okay, okay, I'll go to sleep" he gave up. If there was someone more stubborn then Thomas, it was Gally. "But I… I'll go say goodnight to him… at least."

"I guess I can't stop you" he sadly smiled.

Without other words, the brunet went back to where his boyfriend was, knocking once again on the door.

"Hey Min, it's me. I, huh… I just wanted to say goodnight… I'll go sleep now. The door is open if you… if you wanna come back…"

Silence. Thomas was getting frustrated. But he still went to the cabin he shared with Minho and, with great difficulties since his lover wasn't by his side, he felt asleep.

…

The next day, he went to give Minho his breakfast and as a repeat of last night, he was met with silence and the young man didn't opened the door to get his food. If Minho was going to starve himself, there was obviously something wrong and worry clouded his mind.

It didn't get better. He went to give him his lunch later on. He still didn't eat it. Still no sound from him. Thomas would have thought his boyfriend was dead if the water bottle he left for him hadn't been taken.

At least he was staying hydrated.

Before going back to their home for the night, Thomas sat down next to the door. He told Minho what he did that day, what happened, like they always did… before…

He needed it. He needed to still feel their connection. He left after wishing him a good night.

It was the same thing for two more days. In which Minho only took a meal.

Everyone was worried. It wasn't unnatural to see people having mental break downs from time to time in Paradise as pretty much everyone had trauma, but having one of their leaders, Minho none the less, who was always so reliable, felt so out of place. And everyone could see how it took a toll on Thomas.

The boy had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and didn't smile at all, even if he never was one to smile a lot. But his reason to be happy, the one person would could make him laugh wasn't there. A hole was in his chest. He needed his boyfriend, his best friend, so much.

He was back again at night, another water bottle in hand that he let at the usual place, and talked about his day.

"Aris is doing better" he then told. "They put his leg back into place and put a cast to stop it from moving. The pain is still intense, he told me, but at least he's conscious and eats well. The medjacks say that he's gonna heal pretty fast."

He thought some information about Aris would maybe make Minho better, but to no avail.

He continued talking, rambling even. He just wanted to hear his boyfriend's voice.

"I miss you Min. I miss you so much" he said. "I want to hold you. I wanna hear your laugh. I wish I could hear another one of your jokes. I wish I could kiss you…"

"I miss you Minho…

Silence.

"The door is still open for you… Goodnight Minho…"

He stood up and left. Another night alone.

…

Next morning, Thomas was on the beach. He didn't feel like going to Minho. He felt betrayed. All this time, all they've done for each other… all for nothing apparently.

He didn't want to be mad at his best friend. He probably had a good reasons. But he was rejecting him and he couldn't help but feel hurt.

He had barely slept. Not more than two hours. Nightmares had drowned him during the nights and Minho wasn't there to make it better. He wasn't hungry and was such in a bad mood, he knew he couldn't see anyone without putting his frustrations on them.

The sun was getting higher when he heard footsteps in the sand behind him.

He turned, expecting Brenda to come get him.

But what he saw made his stomach flip in a way that was unreal.

It was Minho!

Completely forgetting all the frustrations he had, he ran towards his boyfriend, latching at him, knocking them both into the sand. Now that he had him, he wasn't going to let him go.

Wrapping his arms around the smaller frame of his lover, Minho let out a breath he seemed to have held for days. "Oh shuck, this feels so good" he mumbled, burying his face into Thomas's neck.

The brunet couldn't agree more. He felt whole again. He couldn't let go. All the pain was going away.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours. They needed this so much.

And even as they moved to see each other's face, their limps were intertwined, and their faces were still so close, their noses were almost touching. Thomas let himself drown in the dark orbs looking at him.

"I'm so sorry Thomas. So sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you away…" the young man finally said.

"What happened?" he asked softly.

"I-I'm… I'm just…" Minho struggled to answer. "I'm just a failure as a leader…"

"What!?" The surprised made Thomas sat up in the sand, quickly followed by the other boy.

"I am Thomas. I always let everyone down" he said, louder. "So many Gladers died because I failed to find an exit to the Maze. It was my job, Thomas. My job! And I failed! And in the Scorch, more died, and I lost you so many time, and I was the leader! I-"

"No, Minho, stop, it's not-"

"And then I failed to bring back Newt! Newt died because of me-"

"NO! I forbid you to say that! I killed Newt, you know that! Don't put that on your shoul-"

"You had to kill him because I failed to get him back, Thomas! It's my fault you had to shoot him! Don't you understand?!"

"No… No Minho…"

So that was what had been going through his boyfriend's mind for the past few days. If not months. Thomas understood how those feelings could be overwhelming. He experienced a lot of grieve and self-loathing during the first months in Paradise. But telling Minho the truth about Newt and having his Keeper beside him had helped a lot. The reason he managed every day, the reason he was doing better, was Minho.

He never suspected the boy had so much going on too. It shouldn't have been a surprise, after everything, but Minho was just always this strong leader, someone who could do anything, challenge anyone that it seemed impossible that he too could be hurting. He felt bad for not noticing it earlier.

"And Aris, this is my fault too. I should have made everyone take a different route. I should have known it was too dangerous-"

Thomas put hand on his lover's mouth to stop him. He stared at him with serious eyes.

"You have so much on your shoulders babe, you need to let go" he said. "No one is perfect. And let me tell you, you're the best leader I've ever seen."

Minho rolled his eyes.

"It's true! When you asked me if I wanted to be the leader in the Scorch, I didn't say no because I just didn't wanted to. I said no because I knew you were better than me. You always were. Of course you couldn't save everyone. Nobody could have. But without you, I know we wouldn't be there."

Minho relaxed. The brunet knew there was still a long way to go, that those things would take time to heal properly, but if he had at least appeased his boyfriend for now, it was a win.

"I'm sorry" he said. "When I saw Aris with his leg bend, everything just came back. Newt, with his broken leg, and how I failed to protect him. And everything escalated."

"I understand, it's normal" Thomas replied, caressing the tan cheek of his lover.

"And… I felt the need to punish myself for everything. Something in my head was telling me I wasn't worthy of love. And even if it was the last thing I wanted to do, I pushed you away, to punish myself…"

"Slinthead…"

Minho smiled sadly "I know. Yesterday, I realized I was also punishing you by doing this so… So I came back. I couldn't stand it anymore anyway…"

Thomas kissed him. He couldn't believe his boyfriend did that. That he was so broken inside. And yet, he was so strong. Despite all his insecurities, he never gave up. Thomas just wanted to give this man all the love he had inside him, because that was what Minho deserved.

He told him that; with every touches, with every nibbles to the boy's lips, with every moans. He just wanted Minho to know how much he loved him and how amazing he was.

"You're so strong Min, so strong" he said when they parted. "And I forbid you to do that again. If you ever feel the need to punish yourself, come to me, okay? In fact, always stay by my side."

Minho laughed "Okay babe, I'll do that."

They both smiled at that. Things weren't perfect. But it was going to be better, they were sure of that now.

_________________________

Hope you liked it and I'll see you with more fanfictions! They are still so many to come!

12 notes · View notes