Complex Trauma | Nervous System | Liminal Edge
An integrative approach to trauma, nervous system regulation, and the threshold between breakdown and breakthrough — for people ready to navigate rather than just survive.
What this is
In 25 years of psychiatric nursing and trauma therapy, I have worked with people carrying complex PTSD, religious trauma, ritual abuse, and the kind of suffering that doesn’t fit neatly into a diagnosis.
What heals is rarely what is expected. It lives at the intersection of the body, the nervous system, the inner world of parts, and the ancient wisdom of cycles and thresholds.
This hub is a map for that territory.
"The liminal edge is not a place to fix. It is a threshold to cross. Breath carries you through — not willpower, not a treatment plan."
The question at the centre of this work
Understanding this changes everything about how we approach healing — and opens the door to approaches that actually work with the body’s wisdom rather than against it.
The framework
Healing does not move in straight lines. It follows natural cycles — contraction and expansion, dormancy and emergence. This framework honors that rhythm.
The freeze. Everything feels still or lifeless. Surface roots are deepening. This is not stagnation — it is underground work. From darkness....
To light. Slowly, gently. Small signs of life return. Fragile, uncertain. The system tests safety before fully opening. This cannot be rushed.
Capacity and trust grows. Life is tested again. This phase brings both vitality and sometimes fatigue, growth and effort. The phase of the wisdom, the fruits.
Lessons are harvested, lessons in letting go. What no longer serves is released. Creating space for the next cycle of rest and renewal.
Explore the articles
Each article maps a specific part of the healing journey — from the science of the nervous system to the most ancient maps of transformation.
Work with me
Complex trauma, religious and ritual abuse, nervous system dysregulation, spiritual emergency — these are the areas I work with most deeply. In private sessions I bring 25 years of clinical experience together with a genuine map of this territory.
For individuals & couples/ families
One-to-one integrative therapy combining trauma-informed care, yoga therapy, and somatic approaches. Online or in The Hague.
you are welcome
A 30-minute call to explore whether we're a good fit. No pressure. You ask your questions, I ask mine. We decide together.
For quiet support
A quiet circle — direct access to Anneke for therapeutic questions any time, self-study materials, and support at a lower price than private sessions. Together, but alone in the circle.
About Anneke
I’m Anneke Sips — psychiatric nurse, trauma therapist, and IAYT-accredited yoga therapist based in The Hague. I’ve spent 25 years at the intersection of psychiatry, ancient wisdom, and earth-based healing.
I wrote The Wisdom of Psychosis because I kept meeting people who had been through extraordinary altered states and were told there was nothing meaningful in the experience. I disagree.
My work challenges the idea that sensitivity is pathology. I believe your nervous system is not broken. It is responding to something real.
The book
A 21-chapter guide through the full arc of psychotic experience — from neurochemistry and trauma to spiritual emergence, post-psychotic growth, and what it means to come home to yourself.
Written for people who have been through it, families holding space, and clinicians who want to understand from the inside.
Are you a Wisdom Keeper?
In every culture, in every era, there have been people who could sit with darkness without flinching. Who understood that breakdown can become breakthrough. Who knew that the most overwhelming human experiences often carry the deepest wisdom. You may already know you are one — or this may be the first time someone has offered you that mirror.
Explore the Wisdom Keepers Directory →Explore more
Stay connected
Join the Substack — Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9am CET. Somatic research, ancient wisdom, and the long view on what healing actually looks like when the mind has been through something extraordinary.
No spam. Unsubscribe any time.