In this episode of the Being Well Podcast, Forrest is joined by associate therapist and his fiancée Elizabeth Ferreira for an honest, personal conversation about what it’s actually like to be in a relationship when one partner is living with trauma, complex PTSD, or another ongoing mental health challenge, and how to navigate the unique challenges of trauma in relationships. Drawing on their experience together, they discuss supporting without enabling, avoiding power imbalances, managing resentment, dealing with moments of frustration, and the importance of reciprocity. Elizabeth has some thoughts about the DSM. Forrest shares about how Elizabeth has supported him. It’s a good one.
Key Topics
- 0:00: Intro and Elizabeth’s overview
- 5:50: How trauma shapes you
- 9:05: How Elizabeth found safety in her relationship with Forrest
- 11:12: How the relationship helped Forrest grow
- 15:44: Self-discovery through relationship
- 21:19: How to effectively support a partner with mental illness
- 33:42: Being ‘sturdy’
- 39:18: Navigating criticism
- 43:30: Communicating without resentment or shame
- 54:57: Avoiding stigma, and why Elizabeth wants to throw the DSM out the window
- 59:52: Not buying in to the smallest version of your partner
- 1:04:27: Recap
Forrest is now writing on Substack, check out his work there.
