Index
(Updated: July 2025)
Welcome to Life after Trauma. Iām so glad youāre here. I started this project in 2023, and have published more than 100 essays since then. Hopefully, this index will make it easier to find your way around.
If youāre new here, this is the best place to start. Iād love it if you introduced yourself in the comments too.
If you like what you read, make sure you subscribe to get my lastest work in your inbox:
āļø Personal essays about sexual violence
Life after Trauma: The Backstory
Rebuilding your life after sexual trauma is never easy. No-one should have to do that alone.
The Haunted Hot Water Bottle
Perhaps itās time to sleep without having danger right next to me in bed.
What happens when youāre sexually assaulted at work
Reflecting on my time in the non-profit sector
Recovering from sexual violence is a healthcare issue
Why we need to invest in community-based supports for survivors
Bad Faith
On Catholicism, trauma and how I left my faith
Sobriety Helped Me Recover From Sexual Violence
(A guest post on
š Notes on spending Christmas alone
From my couch to yours on this difficult day
š Personal essays about trauma
Reasons Iām Glad I Lived
A short list of things that give my life meaning
Hope exists no matter who wins
Beautiful things grow out of shit (aka notes from me to you on election day)
š„ There's something missing from the conversation about burnout: trauma
I wasnāt just burnt out. I was traumatised.
Watching Gaza
Thoughts on trauma, mental health and being online
On ambition, trauma and how we define success
Another learning from The Artistās Way: the need for safety
On the importance of trauma-informed healthcare
How I started 2024 with a dental emergency
New year, same diet culture
On the troubling overlap between sexual violence and disordered eating
The Healing Power of a Smorgasbord dinner
What I eat when I donāt feel like cooking
This Messy, Exhausting, Beautiful Life
The Body, Brain and Books questionnaire
š¤ Personal essays about grief
You never get over that kind of loss.
Remembering my mother, who died 17 years ago.
What I learned from my first live storytelling event
You have to stay alive long enough for your life to change (Paid subscribers can also listen to the speech I gave on stage at the Dublin Storyslam.)
Seventeen years without my mother š
Some things that help me feel less alone in my grief
RIP Budino, our sweet cat š
The deep retreat of Winter
My to do list for lifeās difficult moments
āAsk Clare columns
š Ask Clare: Long-term asexuality after trauma
On finding companionship and rebuilding a sense of safety in the body
š¬ Ask Clare: How to find a good therapist
I "auditionned" so many therapists before finding *the one*
š Ask Clare: How to navigate grief and trauma in close relationships?
Softness is a form of strength
š¬Ask Clare: How can I rebuild after sexual violence?
Some things I did to survive
šØ The Artistās Way
Letās do The Artistās Way together
Exploring survival as a creative act
Week 1: Recovering a Sense of Safety
Tips on Morning Pages and Artistās Dates
Week 1: Community thread
Week 2: Recovering a Sense of Identity
Reflections on attention, skepticism and what it means to be sane
Week 2: Community thread
Week 3: Recovering a Sense of Power
Reflections on anger, serendipity, shame and what it means to grow as an artist
Week 3: Community thread
Week 4: Recovering a Sense of Integrity
How reading deprivation changed my life (but I still donāt want to do it!) š
Week 4: Community thread
Week 5: Recovering a Sense of Possibility
Why I donāt want to be a āgood girlā anymore
Week 5: Community thread
Week 6: Recovering a Sense of Abundance
Letās talk about money š°
Week 6: Community thread
Week 7: Recovering a Sense of Connection
On perfectionism, creative risks and jealousy
Week 7: Community thread
Week 8: Recovering a Sense of Strength
ā° On time, encouragement & creative grief
Week 8: Community thread
Week 9: Recovering a Sense of Compassion
On fear, enthusiasm and creative U-turns
Week 9: Community thread
Week 10: Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection
On workaholism, creative drought and fame
Week 10: Community thread
Week 11: Recovering a Sense of Autonomy
On acceptance, success and creating your Artistās Altar
Week 11: Community thread
Week 12: Recovering a Sense of Faith
Our final week (plus a video from me! )
Week 12: Community thread
We did the Artistās Way together!
What I learned & whatās coming next š¤š»
š Resources
š Eight books I recommend to every survivor of sexual violence
& my favourite quote from each
š Not just inspiring, but medicinal: A reading list on surviving childhood sexual violence
Seven stories to (hopefully) help you heal
š A different kind of gift guide
50+ things that have made my life better
š¤Æ Things I can't stop thinking about (part 1)
(snippets from my 'how to live' file)
30+ resources that helped heal my disordered eating
The books, articles and podcasts that helped me develop a healthier relationship with food
ā¤ļø My favourite stories about love, expansively defined
āThe choice to love is a choice to connect, to find ourselves in the otherā - bell hooks
š¤Æ Things I can't stop thinking about (part 2)
The āweāre all flawedā edition (aka snippets from my āHow to Liveā file)
š¬ Community Threads
š¬ Introduce yourself, meet others, share your work
š¬ Self-care through the festive period
December isnāt always easy for trauma survivors.
š¬ Letās chat about sexuality after trauma
Sex is one of those topics that I wish more people talked about openly
š¬ Letās chat about exercise after trauma
For a long time, I was too traumatised to move my body
āļø Essays on writing
The writing you do, when you canāt write
On self-compassion, productivity and creative work.
When the one you thought could be THE ONE says no
On writing & rejection
On publishing + vulnerability hangovers
Attaching myself (& my mood) to algorithmic feedback loops is a horrible way to live.
Writing is always beginning again
On my constant wish to have written more
I donāt have many regrets, but this is one.
On The Artistās Way & the time I got nature stoned!
What I learned growing my Substack to 500+ subscribers
On the power of slow, intuitive growth in a noisy world
How I set my boundaries as a writer
Plus, three things to bear in mind if you want to write about trauma
āļø Essays on writing about trauma
The lie that tells the truth
On the healing power of writing my first novel
Writing about trauma: what itās like to pitch stories about sexual violence
A cautionary tale that threatened my wellbeing
How I wrote my personal essay for the Huffington Post
Some behind the scenes tips on pitching, how much I was paid etc
š³ļøāš Essays about being queer
š³ļøāš I shared my coming out story with the Huffington Post.
This is who I am,' I thought. ... It was one of the happiest moments of my life.
š Iām engaged!
I never thought Iād get married, but something changed
š³ļøāš Why Pride Month still matters
Most people aren't as progressive as they like to think they are
š āGod, I'm glad I fell in love with an Italianā
A love story
š³ļøāš Why I'm still writing about queer fertility issues
The State shouldnāt choose to value, support and invest in one kind of family ā the heterosexual couple ā to the exclusion of everyone else.
šļøLife after Trauma podcast
āTrauma changes the way people experience their bodiesā
A conversation about movement and recovery with
šŗ Survivors on Screen
Introducing: Survivors on Screen
A new series about how sexual violence is portrayed in TV and film
Survivors on Screen #1: Promising Young Woman
What the filmās critical response says about cultural attitudes to rape
Survivors on Screen #2: Unbelievable
What this humane miniseries shows us about recovery after rape
Survivors on Screen #3: The Assistant
On the nauseating pain of āyouāre not his typeā
Survivors on Screen #4: The Morning Show
An interview with WGA-nominated writer of The Morning Show
Survivors on Screen #5: Nanette
A conversation with neurodivergent writer,
