3 Tips for Healing From Trauma
Are you struggling with trauma? If so, then you’re not alone.
Trauma can be a deeply distressing and overwhelming experience, and it’s normal to feel like you’re struggling to cope. There are a variety of detrimental effects it can have on your health, relationships, and overall quality of life, including the following:
Physical Symptoms: Headaches, stomach pain, muscle tension, rapid heartbeat, and fatigue. These symptoms can persist even without underlying health issues.
Emotional Symptoms: Anxiety, depression, fear, anger, irritability, and numbness that may be triggered by specific events, people, or situations.
Flashbacks: Intrusive memories of the traumatic experience that can include vivid images, sounds, or smells that transport you back to the traumatic event/situation.
Avoidance: Avoiding certain places, people, and situations, or engaging in activities that numb or distract from the traumatic memories.
Interpersonal Problems: Difficulty forming and maintaining healthy relationships. Struggle with trust, intimacy, and emotional regulation.
Different types of trauma
Trauma can arise from any situation that threatens your safety, security, or well-being, and what’s traumatic for you may differ from what would be traumatic for someone else.
Here are different types of trauma that may have impacted you:
Acute Trauma: A single traumatic event, such as a car accident, natural disaster, or assault.
Complex Trauma: Exposure to multiple traumatic events, often starting in childhood - such as ongoing physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, or witnessing domestic violence.
Secondary Trauma: Indirect exposure to traumatic events, such as witnessing traumatic events as a first responder, healthcare worker, or therapist.
Vicarious Trauma: Emotional and psychological impact of hearing or seeing the traumatic experiences of others, often experienced by those in helping professions.
Developmental Trauma: Any trauma experienced during childhood that can have long-lasting effects on emotional, relational and psychological development.
Collective Trauma: Experienced by a group of people (such as a community or society) in response to a significant event, such as a natural disaster, war, or mass shooting.
Is full healing possible?
Healing from trauma can be a complex and individual process that takes time and effort.
But we believe that God is the Healer and Counselor who died so that you can live a life of wholeness, purpose, and freedom. Sometimes healing can look like a process of multiple healing encounters followed by a season of rebuilding your identity and gaining new skills to maintain your newfound freedom. Other times, God will deal with your issues in a single moment of encounter.
Regardless of your personal journey, we trust that God knows best what you need. Your full submission to His process (along with seeking the support of trusted others, including professionals as appropriate) will result in living a life full of joy.
Tip #1: Acknowledge the trauma and invite God in
As you partner with God on your unique healing journey, allow Him into the deep and tender parts of your heart. Feel and accept your emotions as well as the impact that the trauma has had on you. Invite the Holy Spirit's comfort. Forgive whoever has harmed you (for your benefit to be free of any bitterness), and partner with God to work through layers of forgiveness as needed.
(If you feel stuck with how to process painful memories, read this blog post for tips.)
A Sozo will help you get God's perspective on your situation as well as recieve a fresh influx of perfect Love. God has answers to your pain that will set you free! It may also be helpful to journal or process with a counselor the emotions that you're experiencing during this time.
Tip #2: Set boundaries
Learn to love yourself fully and say "no!" to people/situations that may trigger you or worsen your trauma. This may include limiting contact, expressing your needs, and upgrading your communication/conflict resolution skills. It may also require you to learn how to stand firm when others attempt to guilt or manipulate you.
If you're learning how to set boundaries for the first time in your life, then you'll need supportive people around you who champion your right to your own opinions, preferences, and beliefs. You may need to find a support group or work with a therapist to cultivate safe relationships as you limit your involvement with toxic ones.
Tip #3: Prioritize self-care
Trauma can take a toll on your physical, emotional, and mental health, and it's essential to take care of yourself as you move through healing. Self-care can take many forms, such as getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, engaging in regular exercise, and participating in activities that bring you joy and relaxation.
In other words, take a break from the process of healing sometimes! As you feel renewed and reinvigorated, you can dive back in where you left off. God is faithful and will walk with you each step of the way.
