When people hear the word trauma, many times their bodies tighten up, their minds fight the possibility, their world suddenly feels off balance. Trauma is hard to deal with. It flat out sucks. Thinking that you could have been through awful experiences isn't easy. It's hard.
It's so much easier to ignore the possibility of trauma - in real time, in that very moment. Because the experience of going back and reviewing your world shaking, heart throbbing, sky falling, and painful experiences seems like climbing the terrain of Mount Everest.
But this is what I can promise, you can't escape it. You can't bury it far enough into your body in a way so that it doesn't affect you. You can't run from it. The ONLY thing you can do is face it. Face your demons. Face your hard truths. Face your pain. Because we all have these experiences. We all carry pain, suffering, and challenges. Life isn't a walk in the park. Life is messy. Life encompasses high highs, and at times low lows. And despite your parents giving it their best effort, your childhood wasn't perfect. Your parents are simply humans traversing the human experience right along with you.
But my hope for you, through therapy - through EMDR therapy - is that life becomes more manageable.
In Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown describes 87 emotions we navigate in the human experience. I don't expect that you will be free of all pain at the end of our therapeutic journey together. But my vision for you is that you will be okay with what life throws at you, and that experiencing at least a portion of those 87 emotions that Brené Brown has defined is now possible. You will traverse the tough stuff and come out on the other side with more learning and knowledge. Setbacks can happen, but growth is possible. Ease is possible. Breathing easier is possible.
It may sound scary now, but there is power in knowing and processing what you carry. Your body is carrying your pain with you every single day, whether you like it or not and whether you know it or not. So why not lighten the load; why not heal from it? Whatever you don't let out, goes inward. This is the exhaustion you have been feeling. This is the overload you feel so often. This is the overwhelm that your mind races to.
The truth can set you free. Healing is possible. Change can occur. I hope you take the step to begin your healing journey.
Namaste.
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