Integritus Prime

I do a lot of work online through social media on trauma awareness. I do it because, as a trauma survivor, and more specifically as a survivor of childhood abuse, I know that I didn’t start to become free of it until I started talking about it and taking steps to heal myself. It is important not to cling to labels, but at the same time, it is important to own our stories as a step toward releasing the pain they contain. Here are a few of my thoughts on this topic:

1. Often, we want to avoid or deny that we have trauma inside us. I define trauma as any long-term lingering disturbing and painful effects of something that happened to us or was done to us in the past. It could be the fear we still carry from a car accident, sexual abuse when we were children, physical beatings from caregivers, or emotional manipulation from a narcissist.
2. It’s important to recognize and accept that we have trauma because it’s the first step. We cannot solve a challenge we haven’t accepted as existing. To accept what happened to us doesn’t make us a victim now; it allows us to recognize that we were victimized, and we can work to heal that and take our power back.
3. A huge barrier in the trauma healing journey is often the stigma associated with trauma, and even that word. We may prefer to use the alternative term, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which is similar. However we characterize and name our experiences, it’s important that we do.
4. Once we can accept and speak about what was done to us, a sense of relief emanates. It is because we have stopped resisting reality. Next, we can begin the journey of healing by examining our emotions, triggers, relationships, professional aspirations, and anything else that has been affected by trauma.

I “came out” to the world in 2018, and in a public video, said that I had been abused as a child, while also launching my book, From Abused to Empowered: Recognizing and Releasing Behavior Patterns that come from Trauma. That act of courage changed my life, and allowed me to heal and continue healing at a deep level, while also supporting others to heal themselves.

Share with me your journey and where you are in your process of healing.