Memories play a big role in a trauma survivor’s life. Without being able to distinguish between the event and the memories of the event, a trauma victim could have devastating consequences from those memories. And these could last for many, many years, even longer than the traumatic experience. What are Trigger Memories? Triggers are stimuli [...]
A trauma victim can face many difficulties when trying to express everything that occurred in a traumatic event. They have to recount the trauma to numerous people that could include police, loved ones and a therapist. With every recollection of this trauma, the victim’s mind and body tries to adapt to circumstances beyond their control. [...]
In order for people to release their Self, they first need to know that it is there. The concept is a fairly simple one, though it can be a difficult one to grasp for someone who is a trauma victim. It is said that when someone asked Michelangelo how he created the David from a [...]
Everything can change once you successfully access your Self. Not only will you be able to relate better to the different parts that are within you, but you will also have the courage to better relate to the people around you as well. If you have yet to experience your Self, it just means that [...]
Trauma typically will leave its mark in ways that do not fit traditional treatment methods. For example, it stands to reason that a victim would feel relieved when they tell their therapist everything that they have gone through. But instead, they often feel exposed or ashamed. What is considered “normal” therapy does not always work [...]
Over the last few months, we’ve been talking about the Self and the “parts,” which are separate from the Self, and more like individual personalities. Hopefully this is a concept you have come to understand and accept because it is so important during the healing process for trauma victims. Those “parts” can be anything – [...]
For many trauma victims, the concept that they have “parts” is entirely new to them. It never occurs to them that they might be fragmented, and it certainly never crosses their minds that there could be value in facing and empathizing with those “parts.” But the reality is that it can make such a huge [...]
When therapists first began treating trauma victims, they heavily relied on a therapeutic tool that is has been the most accepted practice in psychotherapy – talk therapy. In her book, Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors, Janina Fisher refers to this as the “talking cure.” It is a method that allowed therapists to address [...]
A lot of people do not seek trauma therapy until they have been flooded with responses and memories from their “parts.” If you remember correctly, the “parts” are what often happens when people develop depersonalization, chronic depression or other symptoms. This is often falsely diagnosed as dissociative identity disorder, but the presence of certain symptoms [...]
It almost seems inevitable that at some point during trauma therapy, people end up experiencing a sense of “stuckness.” The client starts to feel worse instead of feeling better, and the therapist is left with the worry that they did something wrong. It’s hard place to be in for both sides. It is also quite [...]