Complicated, complex or, like the pages of a book that stick together after being dropped in the bath, repeated exposure to anything too fast, too much or too soon, can result in trauma. And trauma, in essence, is finding it unbearable to be with our big emotions, our bodies don’t feel safe.
I wrote last week about Big T trauma, often referred to as single incident trauma. A one-time event where we’ve experienced or witnessed something that threatened our sense of safety, either real or perceived, and it left its mark.
Repeated exposure – think; critical parenting, racism, a violent home, sexism, poverty, bullying, fundamentalist religious messages, ongoing stressful work environments – can have the same impact as PTSD, or single event trauma.
Like a mine field, we can experience triggers going off everywhere, without knowing which way is up or where to find reprieve.
And, at the same time as we learn to feel, safely, without being taken out by feelings, we can work on the way the brain codes beliefs that have resulted from the layers of trauma.
Beliefs like:
It’s too late
I’m a failure
I’m broken (I hear that one a lot!)
I’m hopeless and stuck
I’ll never be able to feel happy.
I’ve been writing about Havening Techniques® this last few weeks. This beautiful, nurturing trauma modality, supports this process – and it’s literally in our hands.
The impact of complex trauma doesn’t have to be something you carry forever.
Reach out if you’d like to know more.
