Trauma and Recovery
Welcome to my first blog post! Thank you for clicking and scrolling through my content! I have been worrying over what my first post should be for some time now. I kept thinking to myself - it needs to be something you care most about, but part of me feared what I care about is too heavy for others. Trauma is heavy; it weighs on us and lingers on our soul throughout the week, but trauma is important in my line of work and I hope I continue to bring what I learned on an academic level back to everyday life. Mental health information and psychology should not be held exclusive to those who can pay for an education or those who can privately pay for therapy- it should be more accessible to all. That is my goal for my blog posts and I hope all who read might be able to walk away with something new, with knowledge to assist in the health of another, or challenging thoughts for our own lives.
Trauma is a large umbrella in which many experiences may reside. Physical, Spiritual, Emotional, and Sexual trauma are the different elements that each create the entire umbrella. It is important we understand that each are not their own entity. For example, sexual trauma results in physical/bodily trauma or disembodied experiences in the future. Depending on how the situation is handled a person can experience spiritual trauma from harmful theology, and emotional trauma is always involved as well.
“The challenge in addressing trauma is to continually resist the temptation to cover over-to elide- the suffering in an effort to witness it. The challenge is to attend to the ways in which violence continues to mark persons and communities long after the violent event. This work of resisting and attending is the work of the Spirit”
- Shelly Rambo, Spirit and Trauma: A Theology Remaining.
I once heard we say “I’m sorry for your loss” as an unconscious way to protect ourselves from having to feel even a glimpse of what the other person is feeling. As a therapist and spiritual person, I feel that urge - to continually cry, mourn and apologize for what people work through, also knowing what they will continually work through. Many of us run away from our grief after someone has passed away, after an event is over, or people tell us to not mention it anymore - which does us no favors. The grief must come out, the feelings must be spoken, the shame must be refuted, the looking in the mirror towards our bodies and our inner selves must rear its ugly head - just the way trauma demands to be addressed.
We have to start recognizing the work it takes to recover from trauma, grief, loss, shame, or disembodiment. We have to start thinking of the victims/survivors of said experiences. We need to tell them our office is safe, our home is safe, our spouse is safe, our heart, ears, and the words we speak are safe. We must reflect on our opinions and begin to check in with others about the implications of our words. If we are to hope for, invite, or even imagine a world where trauma exists and recovery is allowed, then we must also look inward. As we ask those who have experienced trauma to be vulnerable and open, we must also challenge ourselves to do the same.