Trauma, What’s Yours?

I’ll ask a loaded question here: have you been through trauma?

Everyone experiences trauma in their life. Trauma is an event that we experience that is extremely stressful, frightening, or distressing and can be a single situation or can be long term. Some are “minor” traumas that are more easily mentally dealt with, while some are major and leave a lasting impact. Trauma can come from a huge variety of sources as well, be it from childhood neglect and abuse, natural disasters, the death of a family member or loved one, spousal or family abuse situations, violence or the threat of harm, witnessing harm to someone else, the list really can go on.

Ultimately traumas wound our souls and can create an impact on our life if we deny them and don’t take steps to heal those wounds.

If you cut yourself, break your arm, or receive another type of injury, if left untreated these injuries become worse, infected, and the effects can spread. The adage “Time heals all wounds,” is really an idiotic saying if you think about the truth of it. Wounds need treatment to heal.

So too do soul wounds caused by trauma. Actually, especially soul wounds, the biggest part of what makes us who we are. After all, are we just a sum of our physical parts when we define who we are? No, who we are inside is what matters.

This topic of trauma comes up because I just recently finish a 12 week course on trauma recovery called ReBOOT Recovery. It’s a faith-based program that is helping people recover from trauma. Not just combat veterans and the like, but every day people who have had trauma in their lives.

I recommend going through the program if you’ve experienced trauma of any sort in your life. I won’t lie and say that it was easy, especially about halfway through when you’re writing about your trauma history. But, the program guides you through accepting your emotions, learning to deal with your trauma, and learning more about how God has been there in your toughest times. It also helps you learn how to deal with your future hardships and how to build yourself up to handle those better. That’s key, not just healing past traumas but learning how to take on new possible ones that will likely come in the future.

I have started their advanced program, which is another 12 week program that can be done in a small group or as a self study. The Reboot program has helped me get to the point where I want to help facilitate one of the program’s 12-week groups at my church.

I knew for the longest time I wanted to help people like me. People who’ve been through some really hard things in their life and have had a hard time figuring out how to deal with them or why God would allow such things.

I know helping facilitate a group and continuing with going through the 12 week process with others will help me continue on my own healing journey. When you help others heal you often help yourself as well in the process. I’ve heard that twice this past week from different unrelated people.

If you live elsewhere in the world than the United States, I know they have online sessions, which is what I attended. You may be able to attend something that works for your time zone.

Knowing that there wasn’t a group for me locally to attend, within my whole state actually, is what has motivated me to get one going at my church. Perhaps it can start a chain of healing in the community.

I gotta remember to stay grounded though. I’ll have struggles with this and everything isn’t all cupcakes and unicorns. Walking through my own traumas on a semi-regular basis won’t be easy. And trusting people locally with my history is hard. Well, trusting anyone, ever is hard for me due to my trauma history, but I’m working on that.

I hope this post has been helpful in some way. Wounds don’t heal on their own, but you can heal from your past. There is always a way forward.