If you're living in the graveyard—if there are topics you silently agree to avoid, if your body is keeping score with headaches and acid reflux—the only way out is to dig.
This is the exact structure Megan and Derek used to move from parallel lives back to partnership. It wasn't organic, and it wasn't natural. It was highly structured, awkward, and heavily governed by rules.
The Exhumation Protocol strips away the chaos. It removes the ability to launch surprise attacks, to interrupt, or to argue endlessly into the night. It creates the absolute safety required for a terrified nervous system to finally speak.
The first time you use this protocol, it will feel incredibly robotic. You will hate the timer. You will hate being forced to say "What I hear you saying is..." instead of just defending yourself.
Embrace the awkwardness. The awkwardness means the protocol is working. It is forcefully interrupting your normal, destructive patterns. You are wearing communication training wheels because you forgot how to ride the bike.