The Key Condition
There’s a key condition for recovery. Do you have any idea what it is? If you said safety or safe living circumstances, you are right! If your circumstances are unsafe, you will be constantly triggered. Your nervous system is optimized for unsafe circumstances. A nervous system optimized to respond to threats is less able to make the changes that lead to recovery. I’m not going to say you can’t make any progress in healing if you aren’t in safe living conditions, but your healing is going to be much more limited and much slower.
Unsafe Living Arrangements Make Healing Almost Impossible
If you are living in unsafe circumstances, it’s also highly unlikely you will be able to convince protectors in your system that they need to change what they are doing. And, quite honestly, those alters may be right. Your system developed the way it did and responds the way it does as adaptations to the dangers of your circumstances as a child. These responses were the way your system minimized harm and danger and best protected you. Trying to stop or change their responses in the present when your present living situation is also dangerous could leave you vulnerable to greater harm than you are already experiencing.
The First Step Toward Recovery
So, if you are wanting to start your recovery journey, your first task is to help yourself find a safe living arrangement. This is an important step and may not be quick. Taking the time to get to a safe living situation will enable your recovery.