What Does "processing Trauma" Really Mean?

[therapybankrupt]

I didn't really do it, My psychologists did.

Pat yourself on the back and take credit where it is due. You learned it from your psychologist you do the work and make the healing happen!

 

[ms spock]

When I integrate emotions, I go through a grief process which lasts for a bit, and then identify the emotion. The emotion is attached to a repressed memory which also comes out. And then the emotion and associated memory for me is integrated.

I was not able to integrate emotions myself for the first 13 years of therapy. I had to get help from a psychologist to 'link' the emotion to the unconscious state involved. The link then brings the memory and emotion back from the unconscious side before I realised it. I'd have a cry and go away for 4 weeks.

I have no idea what you are doing or how you are doing but I am impressed that you are doing it. Wow!

I wouldn't understand how it is that you begin or end or even what it is you are doing when you are processing the memories. It sounds amazing to me.

 

[Abrasky]

It is nice to do processing. Processing meant for me that I could feel this emotion about my family of origin.

 

[ms spock]

That is truly awesome!

 

[Powder]

For those here feeling stuck. I woke from a dream in which I was dealing with this notion of not making any "real progress" in life. As I woke up in that groggy but weird state in which "everything just makes some sort of sense" that as a child I attributed to God, I was Okay with it. I was okay with my life going essentially "nowhere."

I had my palm read once, and the lady said, comfortingly, that everything stays pretty much the same for the rest. I felt both disappointed and grateful.

Life is not what we can expect, but what is expected of us. What each of you is doing is good. Even if you feel all you can do is maintain this delicate equilibrium, then I say, "good on you!!" I am proud of each of you. You are not stuck, but are different every day. Life changes us gradually. It's slow and painful, as we grow slow, like old trees. We'll all be cut down eventually, but while we are here, we stand tall.

None of you has anything to bear shame for. Each of you has reason to be proud as a survivor and supporter both. I am proud of us. It is a real achievement for me to live with PTSD and to not cause it in someone else. My father did that to us. His trauma was passed like a torch burning us alive. I will keep my fire to myself through daily work; I won't allow my trauma to become real for some other living thing. In so doing, our lives are a daily effort to simulate a feeling of safety enough to live, and to tolerate others, support whomever we can as much as we can, and be real.

I am proud of myself for this, though, admittedly, it's not going to be enough to make me notable to anyone who doensn't know what I've lived through. It's an achievement. For each of us.

Love, Muse

 

[anthony]

I wish I could have liked that 1000 times Muse. Very nice.

 

[who am i kim]

I just wanted to ask what if you do not remember your trauma how do you process it? I am aware of some of them, can sense that they did happen but have no specific memory proof of some of them either. Do I need the memories to process the traumas ?

Sorry if I have gone of track with topic.

 

[ms spock]

I don't think so Kim.

 

[JustBe]

For me, I think processing my trauma has been a lifelong ongoing process. For many years I stuffed it down and every time a little would escape and bubble to the surface, I'd stuff it down some more.

That didn't work and eventually it blew up in my face. now I sit with it, try to stay in the present, try to accept what I'm feeling and Live each day as best I can.

 

[Hashi]

Do I need the memories to process the traumas ?

My experience is that you need only some memories. I've been processing a trauma that I probably remember 20 or 30% of. The 20 or 30% that I remember is enough. I've been processing that, and it's a processing of the whole trauma.

Where I have only a sense that something happened, I have that with other trauma and that's a bit more complex. I would say, work with whatever you've got. Because your subconscious is only going to give you things that you're ready for and that you need.

Suppose you have only an impression. If you don't process that impression, then your subconscious is not going to go to the next step and give you more detail. Processing the impression - journalling, posting here, talking with a therapist, exploring your dreams, whatever you need to do - will take you forward. When you've done as much as you need to, your subconscious decides that stage is done, and will give you more to work with. Then you process the next one (some slight remembering, say) and then when you've processed that you get the next.

At some point along the way, your subconscious will say, that's fine you've done enough, no need to give you any more. I don't know where that point comes, but your subconscious does. So my suggestion is always, work with what you have now.

 

[anthony]

Do I need the memories to process the traumas?

If you don't have the memories, technically, there is nothing to process. You need the memories to be causing you issue to process them from negative to positive emotion and piece them together, if fragmented.

It is different under some circumstances, such as: a car accident victim who is knocked out, yet told after the event they nearly died, have permanent injuries, or nothing permanent, yet they get PTSD with no memories of the accident or events because they were unconscious, though they have PTSD because they believe when told, they nearly died.

So what is the trauma causing PTSD? It is the belief of being told you nearly died, nothing else. That you would remember, thus that is what you process because that is the cause, not the MVA itself. If you then see pictures after the fact, you will need to process that because you will piece a story together in your head even though you have no memory of the event, but you can visually see that you were in that car and got cut out, and were unconscious.

 

[ms spock]

If you don't have the memories, technically, there is nothing to process. You need the memories to be causing you issue to process them from negative to positive emotion and piece them together, if fragmented.

I stand corrected.

Are you talking about having a context for your PTSD anthony?

I have a lot of childhood traumas that I do remember but there is also a lot I don't remember.