Clients going through trauma treatment often talk about how isolating the experience of getting better can be; their partners don't understand, they can't really discuss it with friends, and sometimes family is the source of trauma, leaving them with a feeling of having nowhere to turn for support. I am considering starting a support group for survivors and the title of it reflects the experience of going through treatment:
"Trauma Treatment Sucks! A support group for survivors in the midst of Healing."
Participants would obviously need to be in treatment and I would require coordination of care with the therapist as part of the work.
I am curious what the response might be if there seems to be people who would benefit from this kind of forum? Let me know!
yes! everything you said. i am not able to discuss these events with normal people. are there others like me?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! In fact, most people I am working with in the midst of trauma treatment report feeling fairly isolated. Contact me privately if you have more questions.
ReplyDeleteI too had trauma when I was about 5 and even though I am quite a bit older it stills lives inside of me. I know no one who deals with trauma where I live and when I try to talk about it with some of my family they ask "why haven't you forgotten about it already". Why are you hanging onto those memories? I tell them that closure is important. I had been in therapy for many years but the therapist never went near the trauma.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous,
DeleteThere are many different reasons why others try shove trauma under the rug, sometimes it is as simple as they want you to feel better and believe that if you just "let it go" then you will. Other times it is more complicated of course, but as you know it isn't so simple to "forget about it." The way I like to think of memories is sort of like a concerned friend; they are tapping you on the shoulder trying to convince you of something they think is important for you to know for future reference. The memory is "showing" you the part of what happened that is most bothersome because it wants to be clear that it was not okay, it wants you to have clarity around what you care most about, and it wants to be sure that whatever happened doesn't happen again. Essentially, I think of memories as friendly rather than a sign of illness and they can be used as a tool in therapy to guide treatment. So perhaps think of it this way, you aren't hanging on to the memories, the memories are hanging on to you. Once you know whatever it is they want you to know, they will likely relax. A good trauma therapist won't be afraid to look at what happened to you, so I would find someone with expertise in that when you are ready. Thank you so much for sharing and happy healing.