Thank you both - journaling was one of my first ways to turn down the volume on my emotions, so I've had lots of practice

TTJ, open to any thoughts you have on what channeling my writing might look like.

Thank you for your thoughts on this SPG. Do you ever find you have challenges prioritizing one task over another? Obviously the sick wife takes precedence over the meat, but sometimes the most important task isn't always so clear, and I don't always have time to draw up an Eisenhower Matrix every time I'm trying to choose. A big part of the emotional struggle for me is avoiding the overwhelm stage, at which point the tools I have to regulate myself tend to start shutting down. I often wonder if things could be clarified (first this; then that), it would calm me down and reduce the second-guessing part of the inner narratives.

I like much of the CBT toolbox, but I've come to believe that in this stage of my journey, I need a less rational approach. A parts work approach called the Completion Process has been particularly effective for me, because it attempts to reforge an emotional bond with the parts of me that are stuck in an old trauma response. I admit it's a bit dicey at times though - overusing it led to the most recent bit of overwhelm I was writing about above.