Healing from Within: How STAR Network Helps Re-parent Ourselves and Recover from CPTSD
The journey to true healing begins not with external changes, but by addressing the deep wounds within. For many, these wounds come from Toxic Abusive Relationships (TAR) that leave behind emotional scars, manifesting as complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). Healing requires that we look inward, re-parenting our wounded inner child and embracing our path from victimhood to survivor. This is the mission of STAR Network—formerly the TAR Network—dedicated to helping survivors reclaim their lives through CPTSD recovery and emotional self-regulation.
Re-parenting and Healing from CPTSD
Re-parenting is a transformative practice in which we provide care, love, and validation to our inner child, which may have been missing in childhood. This process helps build emotional self-regulation, allowing us to heal from past trauma and establish healthier relationships. Re-parenting isn’t just about soothing old wounds—it’s about creating a solid emotional foundation for a healthier future, one that allows us to break free from toxic cycles.
But what happens when CPTSD goes untreated, and how does it connect to Toxic Abusive Relationships? Let’s consider the story of someone grappling with untreated CPTSD:
Imagine a woman named Lisa, who, in her adult relationships, often feels a deep sense of abandonment and emotional chaos. Even in seemingly calm moments, she experiences intense anxiety that her partner will leave her or betray her. When conflict arises, she becomes overwhelmed by feelings of worthlessness, rage, or utter despair. She may engage in self-sabotage, accusing her partner of things they haven’t done or withdrawing into silence for fear of rejection.
Lisa grew up in a household where her emotional needs were ignored. Her parents were emotionally unavailable, sometimes abusive, and often criticized or belittled her. Over time, she learned to suppress her feelings and developed survival mechanisms—people-pleasing, hypervigilance, and an overwhelming fear of abandonment. These survival strategies, which served her in childhood, have now become a pattern in her adult life, making it nearly impossible for her to maintain healthy relationships.
Unaware that her childhood trauma is at the root of her reactions, Lisa continually finds herself in toxic relationships. She often attracts partners who exhibit narcissistic traits—emotionally unavailable, manipulative individuals who seem to validate her worst fears. Her untreated CPTSD keeps her trapped in these abusive cycles, as she unconsciously seeks out the same emotional dynamics she endured as a child, hoping, this time, things will be different.
This is where STAR Network’s mission becomes vital. Untreated CPTSD can keep us in a loop of toxic relationships, where we continually replay unresolved traumas. Without addressing the core issues—healing the inner child and breaking the patterns—we remain stuck in a cycle of emotional damage.
The Evolution of STAR Network: Empowering Survivors
STAR Network is designed to help people like Lisa break free from these cycles. By focusing on healing the wounds of CPTSD and providing tools to rebuild emotional resilience, STAR Network empowers survivors to reclaim their lives. The foundation’s motto is clear:
You Are Not a Victim—You’re a STAR!
This transformation from victim to survivor is the heart of STAR Network’s mission. The STAR in the logo represents the broken heart caused by toxic relationships, while the golden stitches that hold it together symbolize the process of healing and rediscovering one’s authenticity.
By offering a space for survivors to heal, STAR Network serves as a beacon of hope and resilience for those who’ve endured toxic abuse. At the core of STAR Network’s offering is TAR Anon™, a global fellowship where survivors can share their experiences, strength, and hope. It is a space dedicated to healing from the emotional trauma caused by toxic relationships and offers a research-based recovery program with Steps, Promises, and trained TAR Mentors.
TAR Anon: Healing Through Community
TAR Anon provides survivors a neuro-safe environment where they can work through their trauma and build self-love. It is the only fellowship specifically designed to help survivors recover from the emotional battlefield of narcissistic abuse and CPTSD.
Lisa, for instance, could find solace and support in the TAR Anon meetings. Through this community, she would be able to connect with others who share similar experiences, gaining insight into how her childhood trauma shaped her relationship dynamics.
TAR Anon’s emphasis on emotional self-regulation would provide Lisa with tools to manage her overwhelming emotions and help her break free from her toxic patterns.
TAR Anon free virtual meetings are held every Monday and Wednesday at 6 PM EDT. Monday meetings are open to anyone affected by Toxic Abusive Relationships, and Wednesday meetings are more family-oriented, focusing on individuals who cannot easily go “no contact” with toxic people—such as caregivers, parents, or siblings.
By participating in these meetings, survivors are given the space to heal and build healthier connections while learning to protect their recovery from relapses. We encourage you to join both meetings and connect with the community and start your healing process.
Turning Scars into STARs: A Message from Dr. Jamie
As Dr. Jamie Huysman, Executive Director and Founder of STAR Network, explains:
“Turning our scars into STARs is about finding the brilliance that trauma once dimmed. It’s realizing that our pain does not define us but by our power to heal and grow. Each STAR in this community reflects the strength it takes to reclaim our lives and embrace our authentic selves.”
Through STAR Network, in collaboration with the CPTSD Foundation, survivors are given the support they need to turn childhood mirages of love and safety into real oases of healing. STAR Network protects recoveries from relapses, helps build emotional self-regulation plans, and encourages the development of healthier relationships and families of choice.
STAR Network is here to guide you on your journey of healing, to help you mend your broken heart, and to empower you to move forward as a Survivor. By looking within, reparenting yourself, and addressing your CPTSD, you can break free from toxic cycles and step into a future filled with health, strength, and authenticity.
As we say to each other on this healing journey…
Stay Gold, STAR, Stay Gold!
If you or your organization wants to be part of this global effort to support Survivors of Toxic Abusive Relationships, contact us at contact@tarnetwork.org. Together, we will help you move from victim to STAR and uncover the strength that’s been inside you all along. To join our free support meetings please go to www.taranon.org.
