Well, I teach adolescents. so what I know comes from the pedagogical perspective. What I do know is that the frontal lobe is last to develop. That's goal setting, long range plans, impulse control and seeing others' perspective. So if you feel like you lack in these areas, you may very well have some arrested development.

How about Luminosity or something like that to work the frontal lobe? That's where I'd start.

BTW- I have CPTSD and I only started to feel more like a normal person after 35. I don't know how old you are, but if it makes you feel better, I understand.

You don't say how old you are now but good that you recognize this about yourself! That's the first step into fixing this. Are you currently in therapy? That will be most helpful. It has been for me. I would also suggest eliminating toxic people as much as humanly possible. I hope that helps.

A book may you understand intellectually, but you really need to see a qualified therapist who is specially trained in recovery from trauma. In addition to talk therapy, they use several different modalities that can have positive effects on the parts of the brain that are damaged by the trauma. Unfortunately, it is rare that talk therapy alone will reverse those effects.

In addition, a trauma recovery therapist can help you learn to re-parent & nurture yourself.

~healing hugs~

I can tell from your post that you are a very intelligent young lady and your analysis of your state was very impressive. But the problem is emotional. It is about talking and observing and treating emotion. I am where you are and only recently I have started EMDR therapy and talking about my emotions.

Thank you all!
Yes, I am currently in therapy and though talk therapy helps me integrate my personality I am not sure it's doing anything for my developmental arrest. How is the EMDR working?
I am convinced my problems are emotional, but in lieu of someone to model appropriate emotional behaviour I am at a loss...

Talk & cognitive behavioral therapy is done with the intellect & conscious part of the brain. It helps us understand and to some extent change behavior, but, IMHO, it really doesn't do all that much to help heal the trauma. And I think that's why we sometimes leave the therapist's office feeling raw and vulnerable.

Trauma affects the mind, emotions, body & spirit. It can cause the hippocampus to shrink. Trauma is not only stored in the conscious memory, but also in the sub & unconscious as well as the body (cellular memory).

I don't know much about EMDR, but I do know people who have found in helpful. This appears to be a good site that explains it.

http://www.emdrnetwork.org/description.html.

I do know about hypnotherapy which has been extremely helpful to me & others I know who have a myriad of issues, not the least of which is cptsd. The type of hypnotherapy I have been exposed to helps the client get to the subconscious where the trauma is stored. It also is known to help heal the hippocampus. In addition, it has a healing component in every session so the client doesn't leave feeling opened up and raw.

These are links to article about the difference between hypnosis and hypnotherapy.

http://web.wellness-institute.org/blog/bid/256330/What-Is-the-Difference-Between-Hypnosis-and-Hypnotherapy

http://web.wellness-institute.org/blog/bid/265872/How-Does-Hypnosis-Work

I also know people who say EFT (Emotional Freedom Tapping) has helped. While I understand the process and why it could work, I personally don't think it would provide the depth of healing needed w/o being in combination with other modalities like hypnotherapy or EMDR. But that's just my personal opinion based on my experience and training.

It is critical that you find the right therapist and modality(s) that work for you in terms of not just intellectually understanding, but also true healing of the body, mind, emotions and spirit.

Here is some information about EMDR from this site - http://www.dailystrength.org/treatments/EMDR