Trauma Therapy: What's the Process? - Part Two

The next stage is facing the trauma and processing painful memories from the past. This is usually what everyone comes to therapy for. People want to rip the band-aid off and just get started. Sometimes people have done this in past therapy and are reporting major crises and suicide attempts. It’s not uncommon for me to hear that the more people have talked about their trauma, the more suicidal they have gotten. This is why the first phase is so important! When crises start to pop up everywhere, that’s a sign to SLOW DOWN! Pacing is essential. (Find our “Pacing” podcast episode here).

This second phase is where various trauma therapies are used to revisit the past. Part of doing this is seeing your story in a new light. Typically, trauma survivors tell themselves the same kind of story about what happened to them over and over and over again. These stories that we tell ourselves are fraught with shame, self-blame, anger towards self, etc. Telling them in this way through talk therapy is often not enough. We need to truly process the pain and see our stories from a different perspective. One needs to find that the trauma was actually not their fault and that you were an innocent child or victim in the situation. Most people don’t like to refer to themselves as victims. That’s okay in my opinion. We can use other words, but it’s important to feel and acknowledge the helplessness, powerlessness, and out of control feelings that come with being traumatized. This is sometimes one of the scariest parts. Often times when you’re able to tap into this, there is immense grief. I know, this stage probably doesn’t sound very fun, does it? As a trauma survivor myself, I will tell you that it is painful. It does hurt, but it is so worth it. My life has been transformed through the healing power of trauma therapy. I think it’s important to acknowledge that trauma therapy is a collaborative process. No one healed me. I worked with professionals to step into those painful stories from my past. We did it together. I’ve had professionals walk with me through my story and help me to see it in a different light. It changed my life. So, while it may sound very overwhelming and scary, just know that a trauma therapist will help you pace yourself in a way that makes it manageable. 

This is part two of a three part series on the trauma therapy process. Stay tuned for part three.