046. Feeling Unseen At Work: A CPTSD Guide To The Appreciation Wound

You've done excellent work. You know it. And yet you find yourself scanning the room for confirmation that someone else knows it too. That quiet ache of feeling unseen at your job isn't a professional development problem. It's one of the most common places a CPTSD wound shows up uninvited. In this episode, I introduce The Appreciation Audit, a four-question self-inquiry practice designed to help you trace what you're actually asking for when you say you feel "underappreciated," and who you're really asking. We look at how childhood emotional neglect wires the nervous system to experience a missing "good job" as something closer to a survival threat, and why the workplace becomes a stand-in stage for recognition that was never delivered in the original production. Drawing on research in rejection sensitivity, attachment disruption, and real-life examples from professional and family life, we explore the difference between wanting appreciation and needing it to feel real. If you've ever thought "Why does this bother me so much? It's just work," this episode is for yo

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About Dr. Tanner Wallace

Dr. Tanner Wallace is a childhood trauma survivor, former university professor, and Level 3 Internal Family Systems practitioner who founded CPTSD Medicine. She helps humans who look really good on paper, but behind closed doors are experiencing severe emotional distress in their closest relationships, to resolve what's causing this and become outstanding parents and partners. Her approach is applied mental health training, not therapy.

About the Podcast

Heal First, Then Pick Your Life Partner is for high-functioning adults with complex trauma who are tired of repeating painful relationship patterns. If you perform well professionally but struggle intensely in your closest relationships, this podcast teaches you why and what to do about it.

Each episode explores how CPTSD shapes your parenting, partnering, identity, and emotional life, and offers a grounded, structured perspective on what resolution actually looks like. Topics include IFS and parts work, trauma-driven relationship patterns, emotional distress in partnerships, career identity as a survival response, and navigating psychiatric medication alongside healing.

Hosted by Dr. Tanner Wallace, PhD, this podcast is applied mental health training for adults who want resolution, not just management.