Learning How to Recover After Trauma
Trauma brings the most vulnerable parts of ourselves to the surface. People with spinal cord injuries know this firsthand. Going through a life-changing injury is an incredibly traumatic experience that few people truly understand unless they have also experienced a spinal cord injury. This trauma can be terrifying, but hope is possible. With support and resources, many people live amazing, fulfilling lives with spinal cord injuries.
Aside from the injury itself, there is also associated trauma that may occur. For example, having to explain your differences to your friends or relatives for the first time, feeling drained as you navigate inaccessible places in your community, feeling exhausted from advocating for medical equipment, having to experience disappointments, or even questioning your future goals – these are all examples of associated trauma. It can be overwhelming to think about, but hope is possible for all of these situations. Again, with support and resources, this type of social or interpersonal trauma can be overcome. It’s possible for you to navigate these things successfully and live a fully empowered life.
You may want to work with a mental health therapist to safely explore your trauma. Every person deserves to have a completely safe, nonjudgmental environment to talk about painful experiences. Therapy provides that environment, where you can simply process what you have gone through to better understand how it has impacted your life today. Aside from therapy, there are many things you can do independently to work on recovering from trauma. Below are some examples to make progress toward recovery.
Journal. Expressive writing is a great way to process past experiences and cope with symptoms of trauma. It can be highly therapeutic to get your thoughts on paper. Writing helps you clarify your thoughts and feelings about what has occurred, and it can even help you reframe your perspectives or see things in a new light.
Remain grounded. Experiencing trauma can make us hypervigilant and acutely aware of our surroundings. We may be more prone to defensiveness, or we may find ourselves experiencing a high degree of anxiety. Remaining grounded is so important! Practicing mindfulness or meditation in your daily life can help calm your nervous system and re-wire your brain so that you can begin to regain your sense of inner peace.
Maximize social support. Experiencing trauma can feel lonely at times. You might feel like no one understands what you have gone through because your trauma was a personal experience unique to you. For this reason, it’s so important to stay close to the people who you feel safe, connected, and authentic with. You may also want to try joining a support group – the Reeve Foundation offers a completely free, online support group program where you can connect with other people who are in your shoes.
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Set boundaries. For those in your life who are not understanding or supportive to you, it’s important to set boundaries. Social boundaries are the invisible lines that we set between ourselves and others to help protect ourselves and avoid feeling hurt from the behaviors of others. You have to protect your energy.
Lean into self-expression. Learning to be our full, authentic selves is an essential component of trauma recovery. Experiencing trauma can make us feel smaller, as though we have to hide ourselves in the world or retreat inward toward our pain. It’s important to recognize our pain, but it’s equally important to remember that we are allowed to express ourselves fully and take up space in the world. Trauma can diminish our voice and it’s so important for us to practice recognizing our own inner voice again. Try expressing yourself verbally with others, but also through writing stories, creating art, playing music, dancing, reading poetry, and more.