Emotional Trauma

Emotional Trauma is a response occurring after someone experiences a distressing event, or series of events.

We have all experienced some sort of trauma in our lives- severe, persistent, or even one singular traumatic event can cause emotional trauma and grief. Traumatic events can include child abuse or neglect, bullying, physical abuse, domestic violence, verbal abuse, substance use, sexual abuse, traumatic grief, and the list continues.

As we work through trauma that has occurred and navigate recovery and healing, there are two important questions to ask:

Have I forgiven who has traumatized me?

Have I forgiven myself?

Why do we need to forgive ourselves after someone has done something traumatic to us?

As we replay what has been done to us, there’s always that voice in the back of our mind that says, “if we just did…. this would have been avoided”

“If I behaved as a child, I wouldn’t have been abused”,

“If I paid closer attention, I wouldn't have been assaulted”,

“If I could have been smaller, taken up less space, I wouldn’t have been verbally abused”

When these thoughts get loud and persistent, they induce fear, anxiety, guilt, and depression.

That is why it is so important we forgive ourselves. The knowledge you have now, is not the knowledge you had before the traumatic incident occurred. It is easier to blame ourselves when we realize what has been done to us.

You are not the trauma that has been done to you, and you can forgive yourself for what has happened.

“I forgive myself because now I understand that I did my very best with what I knew at the time.”

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