Trauma changes everything, but you are able and capable of moving forward with the right supports, resources and clinical assistance. Please seek this, if you have experienced trauma. This entry is meant to only be informative.
When someone experiences trauma, their sense of safety and security is disrupted. Their “normal” is gone. At the moment of trauma, their lives have changed. Moving forward with trauma, is not an easy journey. Some cope with alcohol, drugs, self-harm to name a few, while others may cope in healthier ways. How a person responds to trauma and how to tell how a person will cope with trauma, includes many variables. Some things that can have a positive impact on a person’s ability to manage after trauma, are the coping skills they had prior to trauma, a strong support system and responsiveness, and ability to seek resources. Say a person experienced trauma and already had limited resources, supports and difficultly managing basic needs, this person may not fare as well as someone with the opposite situation. Trauma changes the way you perceive your world and those in it. It becomes difficult to trust others, to self-regulate, to seek help, to not feel guilt and shame, to even just breathe quietly. Trauma has led to depression, anxiety, and even suicide. Trauma changes your mind and body’s response to each event, person, and day to day life. It’s been shown to literally, change the wiring of a person’s brain. If we reflect on all this, we can begin to vaguely understand that a traumatic incident can absolutely hinder someone’s ability to seek help. However, it doesn’t mean that someone can’t move forward and heal from trauma. There are evidence-based therapeutic models shown to effectively reduce the impact of trauma and assist in recovery.
Live mindfully, hopeful and persevere.
Until next time!
Claudia Stanley, LCSW
Flourish with Hope 