If you’ve experienced injury, you’ve been hurt. Trauma can damage your ability to cope over the short, medium, and long-term. Trauma is a psychological injury associated with neurobiological changes.
The short-term impacts of trauma are well known and include increased heart-rate and blood pressure, hyper-nervousness, and elevated stress hormones. Past trauma can take over the present moment. Because the brain is still attending to the trauma, it can become difficult to focus. Things previously enjoyed can seem like a chore. Forgetfulness can set in. Interests enjoyed before the trauma can wane.
Not only that, it can take a long time to deal with how to move forward. But as much as we might wish it not to be, the unexpected is an intrinsic part of life. We need to adjust our expectations and go easier on ourselves – be gentler and forgive our failure to be perfect. Think of it this way.
Nobody can be you as well as you can!
Overcoming the anxiety-provoking impacts of stress, trauma, and loss is an important beginning. Fear of talking about the trauma can hold the trauma inside and make matters worse, so we don’t want to focus on it so much that you get traumatized all over again.
I want to focus on the “whole you” – the part of you that goes beyond the trauma, on the values you still hold up to yourself when you look in the mirror. Your body still thinks the trauma is happening and tries to tell your mind that it’s still under threat. Your body and your mind are two key parts of the treatment for managing trauma.
My guess is you’re using an amazing amount of energy right now to cope with the trauma -- to push it down and keep it at bay in an effort to appear normal. It's possible to learn the skills to change your life from a state of stress, anxiety, and unhappiness and move forward in a new and more fulfilling way. I want to work with you to redirect this energy into helping you live a brighter future. Call me today.