Being Yourself: How to Not Let Trauma Define You

Trauma is such an impactful experience that it can stay with a person many years after the incident has occurred. Many people find it difficult to move past this trauma, believing that nothing can be changed. However, it’s important to accept that trauma and not let it define them as individuals. Here’s how you can start doing that for yourself.

Accepting That You Endured It

Attending therapy sessions at any of the holistic treatment centers in san diego will teach you that the first step to healing is acceptance. Whatever steps you took to get through the trauma is what you should use to define you, not the trauma itself. Your focus should be on the fact that you survived and came out of a very difficult situation with a different understanding of your life and what truly matters. Yes, the trauma had an impact on your life, but the methods you used to cope and survive the experience have defined you more.

Accepting That You Grew From The Experience

When a trauma occurs, there is what is called a growth inventory that occurs. This positive progress occurs in five principle areas in life (as developed in 1996):

• Spiritual change
• An appreciation of life
• New possibilities
• Relationships with others
• Personal strength

Before trauma, these areas in a person’s life might not have been recognized; the personal growth that occurs as a result of trauma is what should be used to define a person instead of the trauma itself. It’s this new perspective that has made you more resilient and grow out of the trauma.

How Trauma Can Be Defined

Trauma is the response/result of a deeply disturbing or distressing event. It can overwhelm a person’s ability to cope with the situation and move forward from it. For this reason, it’s normal for someone to experience feelings of helplessness, a diminished sense of self, and the ability to feel a full range of emotions. After the event, a person can be left feeling betrayed, abused, lost, confused, and helpless.

The Results Of Overcoming Trauma

By overcoming the struggles associated with trauma, new opportunities present themselves to help the person grow even more. It’s a sign of survivorship and presents a renewed definition of life for the individual.

Understanding trauma is different for everyone, so there is no boilerplate response or set therapy to help every single person get over their trauma. But by understanding your trauma, you can live a more impactful and fulfilling life as a result instead of allowing the trauma to hold you back.

As emotionally challenging as it can be to face and overcome trauma, conquering it is possible for everyone. By taking care of your mental health and seeing a professional, you can start to heal from this traumatic past so that you can continuously grow towards the future. If you fear that your trauma might be holding you back, speak to a mental health professional as soon as possible to help you move on and build a self-care routine to heal from such a distressing experience.