Recovery Intentions: Suggested Practices¶
Overview¶
Recovery from Complex PTSD involves actively cultivating new wants and aspirations, not just reducing symptoms. Walker's list of suggested intentions serves as a menu of healthy desires — things that may have been forbidden, impossible, or unimaginable in childhood. The practice is to hold these as genuine, legitimate wishes for oneself, and to direct energy toward the ones that resonate.
Quick Reference
- These are permission statements — naming things you are allowed to want
- Skip any that feel wrong or premature; come back later
- Core themes: self-acceptance, safe relationships, balance, and joy
- The final intention extends all wishes to every other being — countering the shame-driven belief that you alone don't deserve them
- Use as a morning intention practice or during flashback recovery
Intentions by Theme¶
1. Self-Relationship and Acceptance¶
The foundation of recovery is building a kinder, more consistent relationship with yourself — becoming your own trusted companion rather than your own harshest critic.
- Developing genuine self-acceptance over time
- Learning to treat yourself with the care you would offer a good friend
- Releasing toxic shame and the belief that you are fundamentally flawed
2. Emotional and Expressive Freedom¶
Trauma suppresses the full range of human feeling. These intentions reclaim the right to feel and express freely.
- Allowing uninhibited self-expression without fear of punishment
- Making room for both laughter and tears — a full emotional life
- Finding non-harmful ways to process and express anger
3. Connection and Community¶
Childhood trauma often conditions survivors to expect relationships to be unsafe. These intentions reorient toward what healthy connection can look like.
- Attracting relationships grounded in love, respect, fairness, and mutual support
- Building friendships and a sense of community
- Balancing healthy self-sufficiency with loving engagement with others
4. Balance and Well-Being¶
CPTSD often produces extremes — all work or collapse, hypervigilance or numbing. These intentions name the middle path.
- A sustainable rhythm of work, rest, and play
- Balance between stability and the ability to change
- Physical health, sufficient resources, and bodily peace
5. Meaning, Beauty, and Spirituality¶
Recovery is not only about reducing suffering — it is about building a life worth living.
- A sense of meaningfulness and fulfillment in daily life
- Making room for beauty, nature, music, and play
- Openness to grace, spiritual support, or whatever sense of the sacred resonates
6. Extending Wishes Outward¶
The final intention — wanting all of this for every other being — is both an act of compassion and a subtle corrective to shame. It reinforces that these desires are universal and legitimate, not selfish or naive.