Turning our Focus Away From Trauma
Judith Lewis Herman writes,
The survivor may wonder how she can possibly give her due respect to the horror she has endured if she no longer devotes her life to remembrance and warning.
We have given our due respect. We have suffered long enough. We have honored our trauma and ourselves as survivors. It’s time to do something else.
Our lives are about so much more than remembrance and warning. Who we are is so much more than just our trauma. Who we can be is our choice now the trauma has passed.
What’s the point of surviving if we don’t really live afterward?
(Photo: .sweetcaroline)
Michele struggled with undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for 24 years. Then she was diagnosed and went on a healing rampage! Today she inspires others to reclaim their lives by making change they choose.
It sounds like you are talking about the defense mechanisms that we develop after trauma. I think I have a life time of them because I was abandoned at birth.
I could use some help overcoming them.
Yes, we do develop a lot of defense mechanisms, you’re right. They can be overcome with some very focused work.