Overcoming trauma

Experiencing something traumatic impacts us deeply. Overcoming trauma is about reclaiming your mind, body, and relationships and managing how you feel, think, act, and relate. If you are suffering from trauma, don't struggle with it alone. You deserve and need social and professional support. 

The goals in trauma recovery are to stay safe, manage the symptoms, process the trauma memories, be fully alive in the present, and enjoy fulfilling relationships with other people. 

Staying safe

To feel safe, any ongoing trauma must stop. Whenever traumatic events are ongoing, being on alert and feeling unsafe are appropriate responses. If it is possible, if it’s not too risky, do whatever is possible with whatever help is available to stop the traumatizing situation or remove yourself from it. 

After a traumatic event, being with loved ones—someone who holds your hand and gives you a hug if and when you want that; a safe place to stay; food; practical help; and time to rest and sleep, may help minimize the impact of the trauma.

Managing the symptoms

Even after a traumatic event has ended, it is not over for someone who has been traumatized. It keeps replaying day and night in the brain and the body. We recommend seeking help and working with a qualified therapist on how to manage your specific symptoms and challenges.

Depression, anxiety, eating disorders, addictions, self-harm, and thoughts of suicide are common among those who have been traumatized, and these symptoms require treatment. Replacing self-destructive survival strategies with healthy strategies for emotional relief and stress reduction is essential. 

The goal is to learn how to regulate your nervous system so you can tolerate external and internal stressors and triggers. We seek to expand the “window of tolerance,” the zone where you function well without being triggered into hyper-arousal or hypo-arousal, so that you can be more resilient to stressors and triggers. 

For this to happen, the brain's thinking, feeling, and instinct parts and the rest of the body must communicate to sense and register what is going on, interpret, and understand it, so one can figure out what's best to do. 

Medication may be beneficial in the recovery process. But medication alone is not sufficient treatment for trauma.

Processing trauma memories

In trauma recovery, it may be necessary to process some of the trauma memories. The goal is to be able to remember and understand relevant aspects of the trauma without becoming so triggered that you feel like you are reliving it. 

Processing trauma memories should be done when you are able to stay within the window of tolerance: That is, where you are not overwhelmed by emotions or bodily reactions. If you become overwhelmed by trauma memories, then you're outside the window of tolerance. The feeling brain takes over, and the thinking brain shuts down. Fight, flight, or freeze responses are triggered. Survival strategies you learned in the past are repeated. If this happens, you risk reliving the trauma and even being retraumatized. 

For processing, integration, and healing to occur, the brain's thinking, feeling, and instinct parts must be active, communicating and listening to one another. The thinking brain must be trained to be sensitive and aware of the feelings and bodily reactions that come up, so it can tell the feelings and the body that "we're scared, but this is not dangerous" or "we are safe now."

In processing trauma memories, it's essential to pace oneself with the guidance of a qualified therapist so it won't be too much too soon.

There are many ways to work with trauma memories. In addition to talking, writing, art, and music may be therapeutic strategies to get in touch with and express aspects of the trauma for which there may not be words yet.

Being fully alive in the present

Traumatized people often feel detached from their thoughts, feelings, body, other people, and the world around them. The goal of trauma recovery is reconnecting and becoming fully alive in the present.For this to become a reality, you need self-awareness and mindfulness. This means being fully present in your mind, body, and environment. And to notice and reflect on what is going on inside you and around you.

Many people find that deep breathing, relaxation techniques, stretching, walking, and nature help them become more aware and grounded in the present. When you become more open and sensitive to what is going on inside you and around you, you will feel more alive.

Fulfilling relationships

To feel physically and emotionally safe, we need people in our lives who are available, sensitive, and responsive. People that come close and provide support when we experience distress, fear, and pain. Family, friends, therapists, support groups, and religious communities may provide that. For some, bonding with a dog, a horse, or some other animal may also provide a healing experience of closeness to another being. Being connected and supported is the most powerful protection against becoming traumatized, and it is essential in trauma recovery. 

Even if you have been alone and lacked support in the past, you may connect with others now and in the future. Being loved by, supported by, and close to available, sensitive, and responsive people is healing. Recovery happens in relationships.