What is Trauma Recovery?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY TRAUMA RECOVERY?

In this article I will be exploring my professional perspective on trauma recovery 
and what it means for me as a person with a lived experience of trauma.

To do so we will first explore the definition of recover.

The Collins Dictionary* defines recover as:

1. 1. Restoration to a former or better condition

2. 2. The regaining of something lost

3. 3. A return to health, consciousness

4. 4. To get oneself back to a state of control, balance, or composure

5. 5. To catch or save oneself from a slip, stumble, betrayal of feeling

I integrated them altogether to form a definition of trauma recovery that fits with my perspective. I have deliberately focussed on the process, rather than the outcome, because the outcome looks different for everyone whereas the process has many interconnected elements.

“Trauma Recovery is the process of consciously creating an empowered life beyond trauma” © 2022 Glow Well-Being

When a person is in trauma recovery, they are actively working on:
 

• Being aware of themselves and how their experiences have impacted them, and how that may impact others

• Balancing the nervous system 

• Becoming attuned to the sensations, thought patterns, emotions and behaviours related to their experiences.

• Building a toolkit to manage trauma imprints, triggers, emotional dysregulation and unhelpful thoughts and behaviours.

• Bringing forth the helpful and nurturing parts of themselves to support the parts that need it.

• Believing in their unique capabilities and also knowing when to get support.

• Belonging in their own bodies and in their communities.

• Bouncing to their own beat

CAN PEOPLE FULLY RECOVER FROM TRAUMA?

This is very dependant on the person and their individual situation.
Each person will experience recovery differently and will recognise for themselves if they reach a point when they feel they have recovered.

The focus within my work of trauma recovery is recovering from those moments in life when trauma is present, when it surfaces, when sensations come up, when thoughts get loud, when emotions run high.

Traumatic imprints are different for each person and the level at which they affect people differs greatly. The length of time a person has been living with the trauma may be a factor in recovery time, as well as the number of times a type of trauma has occurred.

The level at which the trauma has affected a person’s self worth, beliefs, relationships and sense of safety are all contributing factors to recovery time.

Trauma recovery is a process and for many people it may be the outcome as well. To choose trauma recovery is a brave and rewarding action that will undoubtedly bring with it some emotional challenges, however to keep choosing to create one’s life beyond trauma is ultimately extremely personally rewarding. Whether a person can reach a point where they can say they are fully recovered is not the focus, it is the process of trauma recovery that is most important.

WHAT IS YOUR LIVED EXPERIENCE OF TRAUMA RECOVERY?

When I was diagnosed with PTSD, I had no idea what this meant or how deeply it affected me. It was 10 years after the diagnosis and more than 24 years after one of the most damaging incidents before I came to understand the ways in which trauma had shaped most of my life.  

I have certainly recovered from some types of trauma and am still aware of being impacted by other traumas I have experienced. For example I was experiencing some flashbacks and intense fears during the fire season because of a traumatic incident involving a large bushfire. I have recovered from this with the use of EMDR and I am no longer affected by this.

However for abuse and bullying I am still aware of how the long term trauma has affected my worldview, particularly as this is a repeated trauma over many years. As a result of the length of time I was not adequately treated for the trauma or even being aware of how it was impacting me, there are many complex layers that I have had to work through. 

Consequently, I say that I am still in trauma recovery because I am still uncovering ways that I have adapted because of the trauma. Whilst I may not have strong triggers anymore, there are times when I recognise that the trauma has impacted my thinking or my expression in relationships. I focus on recovering from those moments, from allowing the sensations, thoughts and feelings to speak to me and for me to listen and take care of myself.

 I view trauma recovery as a really positive pathway and accept that because of the long standing, repeated and complex nature of the traumas I have experienced, I may remain in some form of trauma recovery for the rest of my life and I am comfortable with that. 

It is recovering from those moments when trauma appears that is more important than being able to state a full complete recovery from trauma, which may be in fact quite difficult to measure.

To live as if I am waiting for a magical day when I no longer am aware of or experience traumatic imprints is not living fully, as I wish to do. I will not let abusers hold that power over me or my life.

My aim is to keep choosing to love my whole self as I am.

WHAT DOES TRAUMA THERAPY INVOLVE?

This depends on the therapeutic modalities a therapist is trained in.

I use EMDR, Hypnotherapy, Energy and Somatic therapy to process trauma with the people I work with. We work at all the different levels at which trauma may be stored and be impacting a person, consciously and subconsciously. You can read more about EMDR here.
 
People who have been affected by trauma sometimes feel as if their inner light has been dimmed or even blown out. This feeling may not be at all times, it may come and go, thereby impacting the quality of their lives.

I offer a program called “Glow Beyond Trauma” and it is designed for people to safely process trauma and bring renewed energy to their inner light. It equips people with beneficial emotional tools so that they may create their lives with new positive beliefs about themselves. I understand trauma from both a lived experience and from a holistic clinical perspective. I do NOT think there is anything wrong with people who are responding to hurt and I treat people as whole beings, regardless of what they are experiencing.

• *Collins Dictionary https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/recovery

Image description: Black starry night background andwhite text: “Trauma Recovery is the process of consciously creating an empowered life beyond trauma” © 2022 Glow Well-Being
www.glowwellbeing.com.au