Steps to Release Trauma: A Journey to Healing from Trauma
As a person who has worked through trauma through endless types of modalities and seen how pain has done to our humanity, I wanted to share this guide to help others see that although trauma leaves a lasting impact on our lives, it doesn’t have to define us, or continue indefinitely.
In a vision, partly awake partly in a dream, some steps appeared to me with this outline and I wanted to share it. There is also a worksheet at the end you can download to practice and go in to your self. If you just want to download the worksheet, click here.
By following these steps, you can begin to release the hold trauma has on your life and move forward towards healing.
Step 1: Discover/Acknowledge
The first step the acknowledgement of the trauma and to remember the event or issue that is causing distress. Our mind may repress things, we may have selective memory, or re may remember things later in life that we had forgotten. Once this memory appears, then you are in the discover stage. This step answers the question: “what happened”. This may seem simple, but it’s a crucial step in recognizing the impact the trauma has on your life. Sometimes memories are repressed, so this is the initial shock of realizing what has impacted you.
Step 2: Accept
Acceptance is about moving past denial and recognizing that the trauma actually happened. It’s important to understand that acceptance doesn’t mean you’re stuck in victim mode or that you agree or understand why. If we have a memory appear and we deny it happened, we push it back down, we justify or claim it didn’t affect us in any way, then you are not ready yet to approach the healing process. This step will show you if you are ready. If you cannot accept the trauma, please find a professional who can help you work through this if you are interested. Do not get stuck in acceptance believing you are agreeing with what happened, keep going!
Step 3: Investigate
In this step, you’ll break down the trauma and learn how it has impacted your beliefs, behaviors, and life. This step will probably take a LOT of time, but it’s essential to understanding the depth of the trauma. This is finding the ways in which your life has been different due to this trauma. Be careful in this step as it can be triggering. Work with a therapist, coach or trusted friend if this step becomes too much. Or take a step back and come back when you are ready. Sometimes we find in this step that so much more than what we initially realized was impacted by this. Allow yourself to experience all the emotions that come up with this step and be very very gentle with yourself.
Step 4: Open
The open phase is about understanding that there are other possibilities in life and that the trauma doesn’t have to define you. You’ll commit to understanding that there are other ways to move forward and live a life free from the impact of the trauma. This is about removing yourself from victim mode. This is about taking the information form the investigate stage and no longer identifying with “this is how I am because of A,B C…” It introduces a NEW STORY such as “I can be whatever I want even if there is A,B C…”
Step 5: Transmute/Transform
This is the processing phase where you reframe, reshape and RELEARN and create a new story about the event. We choose to take our personal power into the situation and feel more stable. We start to break apart the stories that we uncovered in the investigation step, to reconnect with your light, your true self, your divine nature. This step may also include forgiveness for yourself and for the situation that impacted you. Moving from a static idea of life to an evolving one. An example is say you had an extreme heartbreak and you tell yourself “I’ll never trust anyone again after this”…and you have lived that way since then. It is opening the story to say “I will trust again”. It requires a new possibility that may have not been accepted before. This step ,may take a long time, as there may be grief and lots of fear that goes along with it. Our identity wants to cling to the belief to protect us. This leads us to the next step.
Step 6: Let Go
The final step is to release the attachment and fear that has come from the trauma, let go of the expectation and story, and jump into a new way of living. This requires a lot of trust and more importantly, faith. You’ll be able to move into a new version of living without the impact of the trauma.
Remember, healing from trauma takes time and patience, but it is possible. Healing from trauma is not linear and you may move back and forth in these areas as you work through them.
I created a worksheet if you are interested to help work through the steps. The worksheet also has more detailed steps as well: Feelings –> Story –> Why –> Reframe –> Identify –> Allow –> Forgive –> BE
Please contact me with any questions about the process 🙂