How To Stop The Trauma From Taking Over Your Life.. By Danielle Ramirez
Everyone’s traumatic experience is different.
Although each experience is different, the one thing everyone shares is how the experience has impacted their life in some way or another.
One of the common ways to prevent trauma from taking over your life is to first Acknowledge and Identify the trauma exist. Second, What feelings exist in your current life as a result of the trauma? i.e. sadness, resentment, Anger etc... Third, which Is one of the most challenging steps, figuring out some useful strategies that can help you overcome the challenges you face with trauma.
Easier said than done.. I know. But I have dealt with trauma throughout my life and still feel some of the residual anxiety of those events. However, I’ve developed a different path to concur those anxieties and challenges we all face with Trauma.
Below are some key ways to help battle and overcome Trauma :
Talking about the experience and HOW it’s impacting you.
When we don’t talk about our experiences, we miss out on the opportunity to be heard. Number one thing people want is to be listened to and second is to be understood. Maybe not necessarily understood about the specifics of the trauma , but how the trauma is impacting them in their lives. Trauma survivors (I don’t like to say victims ) want connection. This connection can help open the door to healing on a multitude of levels.
2. Finding a Support System.
Doesn’t have to be many, 1person can be good enough. What’s best to being listened to? Being understood. The impact again is specific to you but you want people to understand how you‘re struggling. This struggle can show up in relationships where for example, as a child your voice was taken from you-meaning you weren’t allowed to speak up for yourself. So you have communication issues in your adult life. When you have a support system, you can find your voice to speak your truth and this leads to the path of healing also. When we speak with our support system, we have a safe space to be ourself and find balance because others have also shared some of the same challenges and can share those strengths with you.
3. What are you learning about yourself through the experience. People say i can’t wait to get OVER this; this could mean wanting to get over the feeling from the experience. You never want to get over anything because getting over something allows for it to show up in your life again. That’s called “un-healed trauma”. You want to walk right through the pain so you yourself develop tools that fight against the trauma instead of the trauma fighting against you. Through this process, you will learn your triggers and how to recognize when a person, place or situation is affecting you. This way you can utilize your tools to remove yourself from situations that aren’t for your highest good.
4. It STARTS and ENDS with your Mindset
Now we’re circling back to that key point of acknowledgment and identify. What is the CHANGE you want to see happen in your life. Do you want the trauma to continue to run your life and you as a person? Allowing for trauma to continue to simmer is called avoidance. When the problem is avoided, there is missed opportunity for solutions . So you have to have the mindset that you can conquer your trauma first before you face it.
These tools may not work for everyone. But they can be a start to what works for you. We all had to crawl before we could walk.
”The Wound is the place where the light enters you” ~Rumi