Trauma has an enormous impact on mental and physical health. It can activate your body’s stress response, over-activating your sympathetic nervous system, and elevating your stress hormones. Prolonged stress will weaken your immune system and can lead to gut health problems, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), stomach pain or nausea, and changes in appetite or eating patterns.
Healing from emotional trauma is a journey, but you don’t have to walk it alone. Find the people in your life who will walk with you as you find safety again and learn how to have compassion for yourself. Psalm 34:18 says that “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” God himself walks with those who have experienced emotional trauma, and he will guide the right people into your life to walk the path of healing next to you.
Recognizing Emotional Trauma
Common signs of emotional trauma:
- Emotional Symptoms
- Fear or anxiety
- Mood swings
- Cognitive Symptoms
- Intrusive thoughts related to the traumatic event
- Negative self-perception
- Guilt or shame
- Behavioral Symptoms
- Avoidance of people, places, or situations that trigger memories of the trauma
- Social withdrawal or isolation
- Physical Symptoms
- Fatigue or insomnia
- Unexplained aches or tension in the body
- Relational Symptoms
- Difficulty trusting others
- Over-dependence or emotional withdrawal in relationships
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Common Responses to Emotional Trauma:
- Fight: trying to protect yourself by being stronger than the circumstance that caused the trauma
- Flight: trying to ensure safety for yourself by getting far away from what hurt you
- Freeze: pretending that the trauma doesn’t exist, in order to minimize the harm
- Fawn: Becoming a people-pleaser to avoid conflict and over-accommodate others in order to avoid rejection
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Recognizing emotional trauma involves taking a look at the lasting effects of distressing experiences on your emotional well-being. These often show themselves as feelings of sadness, anxiety, irritability, or numbness, alongside difficulties in relationships and trust. Physical symptoms, such as extreme tiredness or sleep disturbances, may also indicate unresolved trauma.
Reflecting on your triggers, your persistent emotional patterns, and where they started can help you acknowledge the trauma’s impact, opening the door for healing. Seeking support from trusted friends, family, or professionals is vital in navigating this journey toward understanding and recovery.
Importance of Talking About It
Talking about emotional trauma is crucial to heal what has been hurt. If you hold all of your hurt inside, your mind does not properly process it, but getting the hurt out into the open gives your mind and body the chance to validate what happened and find a solution to start healing it.
Talking to God about it
A good place to start openly sharing your hurt is with God. God takes all of our prayers and holds them. You never have to worry about God gossiping about your hurt, or about giving you bad advice. He is a listening ear, and loves to hear the cries of the broken hearted, because He alone can completely heal.
Psalm 10 records David crying out to God in an open and raw prayer. David never held back what was going on, even if his words and feelings were broken and upset. Taking your pain to God is the safest place to get your feelings into the open and start processing them.
In Psalm 13, David is expressing his feelings of shame over his condition. Trauma can often leave us filled with shame and guilt. And that shame makes us hide. But when we hide, we conceal our feelings and can’t bring them out to talk about them.
Sharing your pain with God allows you to feel heard and understood on a deeper level, even when words fail to express your emotions fully. It fosters a sense of connection and hope, reminding you that you are not alone in your struggles. Prayer and reflection can provide clarity, strength, and peace, helping to release burdens you may feel unable to carry alone.
Talking to others about it
Talking to people you trust about what’s going on is crucial for healing because it reduces the weight of isolation, helping you feel understood and validated. Trusted friends, family, or professionals can offer support, different perspectives, or helpful advice, making it easier to navigate challenging emotions. Open communication also strengthens relationships, fostering trust and mutual care. By speaking out, you acknowledge the trauma, which is a significant step toward recovery, and allow others to walk alongside you on the journey to healing and growth.
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Healing Strategies
Understand the healing process
Healing is complicated. Progress often comes with ups and downs. As you begin to heal, remember that healing is not linear—setbacks are normal— but they don’t erase your progress. Setbacks are opportunities to learn and grow.
Break the trauma loop
The trauma loop is a mental pattern where the mind repeatedly replays stressful memories or emotions, keeping you stuck in a cycle of reliving the traumatic experience. In order to move forward you must break the vicious trauma loop. Redirecting your thoughts can help you regain control and create a sense of safety.
Allow your body to rest
Creating a parasympathetic state, where the body can rest and recover, is essential for healing. This state, often called “rest and digest,” allows the body to repair, regulate, and restore itself. Practices like deep breathing, gratitude, or mindfulness, help activate this state. This is often where I would pray and pour my heart out to God as my healer and my rest.
Self Care
Self-care is essential for supporting healing, starting with regular exercise and healthy nutrition to strengthen the body and mind.
- Create a safe and nurturing environment that fosters a sense of security, and set boundaries that help protect your emotional space and prioritize your needs.
- Learn to say “no” to toxic relationships or situations.
- Incorporate techniques like mindfulness, gratitude, or journaling to aid in processing emotions and understanding how your body is healing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, remember that recovery takes time and is a very personal journey. There will be setbacks, which should not make you afraid to heal, because the reward at the end of the healing journey is SO worth it!
Healing is a journey, not a race, and every step you take—no matter how small—brings you closer to being completely whole again. Be gentle with yourself as you navigate this path, and remember that setbacks are not failures but opportunities to grow stronger. You are not defined by your pain; you are defined by your courage to face it. Keep going; you’re stronger than you realize.
If you’re unsure where to start or need support or guidance, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at Hope Found. We would be so happy to hear from you, pray for you, and if need be, guide you to professional help.
Remember, we’re all a work in progress, and that’s okay. Until next time, take care and be kind to yourself.
Love, Hannah
