I am a survivor. But sometimes being resilient comes at a price to our mental health. When I was first diagnosed with PTSD, I remember feeling simultaneously relieved and validated (finally), along with the dread of having another "label on my file" and rage towards my traumatizers. PTSD is an all encompassing term that accounts for the anxiety, depression, emotional outbursts, night terrors, forgetfulness, hypervigilance, and many other symptoms that I had been living with for the majority of my life. I felt like I could finally start working towards a solution now that the problem had a name. But where to start? My personal journey took me through years of trauma therapy, where we broke down individual events. Doing this helped me to understand why certain sounds/sensations/ smells/ places etc. triggered specific reactions from me. I learned a lot about who I am during this process and gained some confidence for the first time in my life. A very memorable milestone in my recovery was the day that I noticed that things that normally would have triggered my symptoms brought me to have memories. Not flashbacks that took me back a time where I couldn't escape the horrors, just memories of what had occurred. Of course, recovery is an ongoing project. A journey, not a destination. I still have days where I feel the weight of my traumas is a bit heavier and my symptoms resurface. That is when I try to be more gentle with myself and set time aside to feel and remind myself that I am safe, I am strong. I am doing the best that I can in this moment. Reaching out to my support system, practicing self care and utilizing my coping skills is essential to my mental health. I am a certified Peer Recovery and Support Specialist and a Certified Community Health Worker II. I am currently working on earning my bachelors degree in Social Work and hope to eventually become a licensed trauma therapist. This is how I use what I have been through as motivation to help others navigate through life with PTSD.