Traumatic scenarios
Trauma is a broad set of experiences that can incorporate various situations. Let me know if any of these are familiar to you:
You find it hard to trust people, and you think primarily because people are just not that trust worthy.
You find it hard to allow your significant other to touch you or bond to them in a more meaningful way. Not sure if it had anything to do with being sexually abused as a child, especially since you put that behind you and conditioned yourself not to think about it.
You experienced various putdowns, criticisms by your caregivers or trusted others when you were a child. As you have grown older, you feel like you have sold yourself short. That you did not take some shots you could have. You might even wonder – at least to yourself – if your self-belief could use a boost.
When you hear certain noises you go on alert and you feel very anxious. You may be hypervigilant or on high alert as you are drawn to thoughts of being back in Iraq or Afghanistan and being in your Humvee and coming under fire, being hit or narrowly missing a roadside bomb.
Your primary caregivers as a child paid little attention to you. They never gave you encouraging words, hugged you or told you they loved you (men you too). And you absolutely could not show much emotion when something bothered you – just suck it up buttercup! Now we find it hard to be in touch with our own emotions, let alone show any. It has/is affected your relationships, or am I just choosing snowflakes who need to hear something sweet all the time (in your mind)?
You were touched inappropriately when you were a child or even an adult and you do not understand why you have not gotten over it yet? You tell yourself you have. You waved a magic wand and said all is forgiven if not forgotten. But…..
You may have been picked on or bullied growing up about a physical feature, behavior, living situation, clothing, etc. and the sting of that has remained with you to this day. You withdraw or feel anxious or insecure based on those experiences. This may keep you from enjoying activities with friends, to livng more in a shell and not be seen.
You are having a hard time adjusting to a job change or life transition, or unexpected or not. You could have experienced a loss or traumatic experience due to a storm, accident or etc. and for whatever reason you just seem to not be able to get beyond it
You seem to be cursed by generational legacies that run in your family such as unstable relationships at work or at home, incarcerations, etc.
You believe you have experienced discrimination at work and that you are being singled out unjustly. Or you have been targeted at home based on your race, ethnicity or religion. You feel violated, upset and not sure what to do. You may also find it hard to hear about and get over yet again another police shooting of an unarmed black man.
From complex traumas, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), to shock traumas to adjustment disorders. I would like to work with you on this. As a sufferer of past traumas myself, I understand some of the pain you may be experiencing.
