If You Survived The Trauma, You Will Survive The Recovery.

Dear Survivor,

You are SO much more than just a trauma survivor. The fact that you survived what has happened to you is truly amazing but it does not have to define you. You don’t have to be ready for recovery just yet.. but believe me when I tell you that you CAN survive the recovery. If you’re hesitant right now, but know you want to talk with someone some day that’s okay.

Maybe you're here and reading this right now because you've experienced something truly devastating in your life. Maybe you're here because you've noticed that you have a tendency to date all the wrong people. Or maybe you're here because you're not entirely sure if you've had something happen to you but you can't remember much from your childhood and you want to understand why. Whatever motivated you to start reading this post right now.. that is the part of you that's ready for healing, ready for change and ready for peace. You might think you're not even close to being ready for therapy but what I see is that little curious part of you that's reading this right now who is actively finding a safe way to begin healing.

Trauma truly messes with our ability to handle stressful situations and attempting to work on trauma or understand what your options are when you’ve never been to therapy can be very stressful. For now, consider breaking this daunting task into small, accomplish-able steps.

Maybe step one for you might be to write down your anxious thoughts in relation to finding a therapist. You can even break those thoughts down to questions such as:

• “Where do I even begin to find someone?”
• “What approach should I even look for?”
• “Do I need to look for someone who has specific skills in that area?”
• “Are there alternative ways to healing trauma other than mental health therapy?”

Pick one question that you’d like to tackle. For example, “where do I find a therapist?”. Make space for this question. Call it into existence. And when you feel called to answer this question, look around you to find the answer. Perhaps you’ll remember that you follow a therapist who frequently posts about this sort of thing... maybe you feel comfortable asking a friend who’s gone to therapy how they found therapy.. hell, you might even just start by Googling your question just to see what pops up. There are many different ways to answer these types of questions but the most important part of trauma therapy and healing is empowerment so above all else, listen to your wisdom. Listen to what you need and give yourself some self-compassion around taking your time to find the answer. By giving yourself the time and self-compassion you need to start therapy, you’re sending the message to the universe that you deserve those things in your healing experience.

Love,
A trauma therapist who knows just how much you are worth

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