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Why It’s Important to Identify as a “Trauma Survivor”

 

My clients aren’t running around town wearing “I’m a trauma survivor” t-shirts.

Of course they aren’t. Who wants to announce that bad things happened to them? No one!

And yet, unfortunately, many live with the aftereffects of trauma every day and don’t know it.

Trauma is what happens to your nervous system after you’ve felt unsafe and scared, and powerless to escape or protect yourself.

If a person can’t eventually resolve that sense of danger, that person’s nervous system is likely to change. There’s some part that always remains on alert and afraid.

You may not even be aware that part of you is always striving to protect you. But this altered state can impact every choice you make and even how you look at the world and show up in everyday life and relationships.

Most trauma survivors struggle or don’t want to admit or own this identity, let alone wear it proudly.

But let’s explore what healing could be possible if more people impacted by trauma did identify with this term.

Read more on the Brickel & Associates website -->

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Thank you, Robyn, for this excellent article. What a difference it would have made in my life if what you explained in this article had been known decades ago. As I started learning about ACEs around five years ago, I became less afraid of sharing my story because I could prove the things that played out in my life after my CSA were not my fault.

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