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Katherine Davis, Author
kd@katherinedavisauthor.com

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PTSD and Sanctuary Trauma: When the Sanctuary Turns into a Collapsing House of Cards
There are many ways to kill people without physical violence. All it takes is obedience. A willingness not to think or care. A vulnerable person might cringe as the faces harden, and the backs turn into impenetrable walls. The sanctuary turns into a collapsing house of cards, where someone is always going to end up crushed at the bottom. I offer this writing as an incendiary and hope that the flames give warmth and light to those looking for relief from the cold and the dark
davikath8
May 193 min read
16 views


Cancer Recovery: Yes in a World Sometimes Full of Violent No’s
Perhaps I shouldn’t have had the massage. It had been almost two years since a professional had touched me in a compassionate, and not a clinical, way. My chemotherapy for breast cancer had finished, and I was trying to reconnect with my body and find some physical relief. My cancer recovery had begun. But massage releases both the angels and the demons within.
davikath8
Apr 112 min read
22 views


Healthcare: People Are the Point, Not Disease
We are still mired in disease-centred care. As to being seen as a whole human in the healthcare system, you are out of luck.
davikath8
Mar 194 min read
11 views


Healing after Gaslighting: On Stepping out of my Abusers’ Shoes
Having long been gaslighted by authority figures, I tend to gaslight myself, but I am done. Believing myself is healing, is health.
davikath8
Feb 131 min read
24 views


PTSD and Me: Wounds into Wings, into Weapons
I didn’t have a PTSD episode while awaiting my colonoscopy to annoy my gastroenterologist, but annoyed he was. He is a busy, important...
davikath8
Jan 272 min read
35 views


Hello Darkness, My Old Friend: A Cancer Survivor's PTSD
A survivor of multiple cancers reflects on her relationship with panic, how PTSD has shaped her life and her character.
davikath8
Oct 31, 20242 min read
21 views


Medicine as Transaction: Why I Insist on Being Human
Medicine as transaction. I suppose I am not suited for it. But I ask myself, what are these startling realities calling me to do?
davikath8
Oct 9, 20243 min read
30 views


Alice Munro and the Loneliness of the Abandoned Child
Recent revelations about author Alice Munro cause this writer to reflect on her own childhood
davikath8
Aug 3, 20242 min read
70 views
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On The Myth of Normal
While Gabor Mate in his new book, The Myth of Normal (https://drgabormate.com/), explicitly forgives parents who inflict their trauma on...
davikath8
Oct 13, 20222 min read
85 views
1 comment


Closing the Book on Gaslighting: On Learning My Psychiatrist of 20 Years Lost His Medical Licence
I shall close the long and gruesome history of gaslighting in my life with the following fact: my psychiatrist of almost 20 years lost...
davikath8
Jun 15, 20222 min read
57 views
0 comments


The Writer on Self-Creation
Not allowed to speak my thoughts or show my feelings, I was driven by my family of origin into art. More like, taken, tied, threatened,...
davikath8
May 22, 20222 min read
49 views
0 comments


On Escaping the Land of Delusion
I have broken the family contract. My mother enforced it: we (mother and three daughters) were never to acknowledge or object to my...
davikath8
May 12, 20221 min read
56 views
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I'm Still Here
Whenever I doubt myself, the continuity of my mind and my body, all I need to do is dance, turning and winding and bending and...
davikath8
May 6, 20221 min read
21 views
0 comments


Underrated Superpowers: Listening and Watching
If the abusers and alcoholics in my life sentenced me to silence, then in silence I learned and became acute. Who knew listening and...
davikath8
Mar 24, 20221 min read
41 views
0 comments


The Artful Beast
I think too much about goodness. Like any child I was taught that being good was ideal, “good” was what you should aspire too, “good” was...
davikath8
Mar 5, 20222 min read
26 views
0 comments


Continuing the Dance
I keep waiting to be tried for my crimes against humanity. What crimes, you might ask? (I ask myself as well, in constant evaluation of...
davikath8
Feb 3, 20221 min read
39 views
0 comments


Healing from Psychiatry's Excesses
Because I was determined to live fully and deeply, I weaned myself off psychiatric drugs. The suffering was intense but worthwhile....
davikath8
Dec 16, 20212 min read
223 views
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Knowing When to Walk Away
Having recently cut all ties with my family of origin, I have moved from anger, shock, and loss to feelings of freedom, joy, and release....
davikath8
Dec 4, 20211 min read
56 views
0 comments


It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
My parents’ training of me started early and was original in its cruelty. Christmas day, 1975, when I was five years old, I cried because...
davikath8
Nov 25, 20212 min read
98 views
0 comments


My Only Judge, My Heart
I have told my story, read and reread it, edited and proofed it, polished and published it. So goodbye to all that. I slam the door on...
davikath8
Oct 31, 20211 min read
14 views
0 comments
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