How to Find Peace After Trauma
After experiencing trauma, your brain can change, those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have different sections of the brain that light up after traumatic experiences. The reason is that your mind is continually reminded of the trauma and thrown into a fight, flight, or freeze. That’s an emotionally and physically draining state to be in, and there are ways to cope with it. Here are some things you can do to help yourself heal from trauma and get better.
Accept that it happened
Sometimes people struggle to heal from trauma because they’re angry at what happened to them. They wish that they hadn’t endured these painful experiences. It’s understandable that you don’t want to experience pain. You can’t change the past or modify your life experience to make it better. But, you can control how you respond to these events. The first step to healing from trauma, and this is a huge breakthrough to get to, is to accept that you experienced something terrible. By doing that, you’re validating your feelings and experience. When people are emotionally abused, they’re often told that their experiences aren’t valid. That’s an awful thing to experience, and it’s called gaslighting. Despite what anyone tells you, your trauma and pain are real. You lived through it, and now you have the chance to work through it.
Talk about it
When a traumatic event happens, it’s difficult and painful to talk about at first. Of course, you’d rather not discuss something that provokes pain and suffering. Part of you probably doesn’t want to face that something bad happened to you. However, once you’re able to talk about what happened, you’re going to start the road to healing from the pain. It doesn’t matter if you open up to a friend, family member, or loved one. The most important thing is that you start talking. And when you speak about your trauma, it doesn’t have to be the whole story. You can begin by saying, “something happened to me.” Or use a simple phrase to describe that you’ve been through a traumatic event. Small steps are important when you’re working on healing.
Write about it
Some people find that writing down their stories can help. Maybe you’re not ready to talk about it yet, and that’s okay. You can write down your story in a private journal. It doesn’t even have to be in chronological order. Write the events down as you remember them. You might start with your emotions surrounding what happened to you. You need to go at your own pace. You might find that as you write, or speak about, your trauma that things become overwhelming. You can take a break and come back to your story at a later time. That’s perfectly fine because there’s no rush to heal. Just remember that once you start working through that story, you’ve taken a big step toward healing and inner peace.
Find a therapist
Therapy is an excellent space to talk about trauma. You can open up to your mental health professional at a rate that feels good to you. A licensed therapist is an expert in human emotions. They want to support your emotional journey and find ways for you to heal from the pain you’ve endured. A therapist will never judge you or what you’ve been through in your life. They’re a safe person to unload your feelings on, and they are there to help you. Whether you work with a trauma therapist online or in your local area, you can find help for your symptoms. There are many reasons to see a therapist, and you can find one online. You’re entitled to get the mental health care that you need for your condition. Once you take the step to see a therapist, you’re on the brave road to healing from what happened to you.
