How To…Heal Your Traumatized Brain

As a coach, I frequently have clients who want to heal from trauma but have no idea where to start. The truth is you can start anywhere you feel comfortable starting. There’s no magic formula that says start with therapy or body work, or any other number of modalities. There are best practices like if you are dealing with active suicidal ideation, you should probably see your doctor to get on medications to make sure you are safe and still here to do the work of healing. People begin their journey there, or they may find a therapist and begin there. Some land in the church others land elsewhere. In this post, I am going to talk about what the process of healing the traumatized brain can look like. It is by no means a rigid list of must dos in the exact order I lay out. When I do decide to get prescriptive I’ll let you know but for this post I’d like you to look at which of these things you can begin to apply in your life right now. So let’s get into it.

Let’s keep this plain and to the point and hopefully easy to understand and implement. We heal with effective trauma informed therapy, trauma aware coaching, safe interactions with others, bibliotherapy (books help us tremendously on this journey), self care (more than just a bubble bath and chocolates although there’s definitely room for that on our self care list), understanding ourselves, and having self compassion (treat yourself like a friend who has your issues). Can we do all of these things at once? Yes, it’s possible but more than likely you are going to do them at the pace that your nervous system allows and that is ok.

If you are like me you will find yourself googling for information on what you are experiencing. Google is a great tool but please be careful in the realm of self diagnosing without seeking further validation with a qualified professional. Getting a diagnosis can have two main effects. 1. You feel relieved that you finally know what’s going on. 2. You become terrified because you finally know what’s going on. If you are in the first bunch great the next step could be talking to your provider about what you can do to start your journey to heal from it. If you are in the second bunch, I invite you to breathe, relax your facial muscles, step outside or into another room, treat yourself like you would a friend who just received bad news, and eat something when you get the chance. Your feelings are valid and I would like to offer a different perspective. Finding out what is going on with you (you might perceive it as something wrong with you), is the beginning of being empowered to do something about it. You get to choose how you respond. There are lots of people out there that share your diagnosis and you can get more information to help you cope with it in healthy ways. This begins with talking to your provider and asking for resources to help you navigate it.

Our brain is plastic, meaning it can be molded which is a great thing for people like us. We may have strong connections for habitual behavior but over time we can stop riding in the same old ruts and begin creating new ruts that are more aligned with a healthy way of being. This starts with being informed and then deciding how we want to live our lives in the aftermath. Rituals or habits are a great way to do this. A lot of people do these things in the morning to solidify how their day goes. If you get off track remember that you can always begin again. There’s no hard and fast rule about your healing. Go as slowly as you need but KEEP GOING.

This post is about healing the brain and I want to keep things as simple as possible. Doing the hard stuff simply is my mantra. We have enough complicated stuff in our lives already. Take the time needed to see the change you want in your life and don’t sell yourself short. You deserve the healing you are going after. Dig in and start your journey. It’s not a race, it’s a journey that will have many twists, turns, and some detours but it’s yours. Own it and do the best that you can.

If you would like some help along the journey please visit my site here to book a free clarity call. For more trauma focused information check out The Complex Life Podcast there’s also a blog to follow along with the episodes. Thank you all for reading and have a great day and remember to keep the hard things simple.