10 Thoughts on Trauma Healing According to a Therapist
- Brainz Magazine
- Sep 16
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 19
Dr. Deborah Brown is a psychotherapist and behavioral health entrepreneur. She developed Brownstone Mental Health Services and can be heard on the My Session with Dr. Deborah Brown podcast.
Almost everyone faces trauma at some point in life, but many carry its weight without fully realising the impact it has on their thoughts, emotions, and relationships. Healing is possible when we begin to understand trauma, nurture resilience, and take small steps toward recovery. This article shares supportive tools to help you move from survival to renewal.
Understanding trauma
Trauma can be defined as a deeply distressing experience that either happens directly to you, occurs around you, or triggers a strong emotional response. The real challenge after trauma is survival, recovering from the damage to your body, your mind, your home, or those close to you. Almost all of us will encounter some type of trauma in the course of our lives. However, some never acknowledge the effect of these events on how we think, feel, and behave. The healing journey that we take after trauma includes understanding its impact, healing ourselves, and learning how to rise from it.
Resilience and recovery
Understanding resilience, the ability to come back from trauma, is equally important to the discussion of trauma. Recent statistics show that six to eight percent of Americans have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is a mental health disorder connected to experiencing trauma and having residual effects. In my practice, this diagnosis is common, likely because many people have experienced trauma they haven’t yet addressed. When this happens, they may notice anxiety, malaise, and low distress tolerance. They may feel jumpy, tired, or out of sorts for reasons they cannot always explain.
Recovery is possible when we understand that we need to address the mental health impact of our traumatic experiences. Healing and recovery can happen in different ways. Maybe you’re in therapy, educating yourself on healing, or seeking support from loved ones or spiritual guides. Listed here are ten preliminary tools that support healing, no matter where you are on your path to recovery.
1. Self-awareness
Developing an honest awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and their effects is crucial. Asking yourself some questions can be a good start to developing self-awareness. Is your behavior aligned with your values and with the person you wish to be? Are you expressing your pain in ways that affect those around you? Are you avoiding experiences out of fear, or feel like you are not enjoying all that life has to offer? Are you connected to others, or do you fear deep connection?
2. Mindfulness
Practice being present in your life rather than carrying the weight of the past all the time. We all deserve a mental break from dark memories and fears. Mindfulness helps keep you focused on the moment and reduces the risk of being lost in negative thoughts and triggered reactions to past trauma. Mindful thinking means that we are living in the present moment, and having experiences that we are actively fully participating in. It is not healthy to feel as if we are just going through the motions, or not really listening to conversations, not having sensory experiences, and not sharing what is inside of us as we feel it.
3. Coping skills
Identify coping strategies that help you feel better when you’re triggered or stuck in negative thoughts. This could be taking a bath or a swim, watching a movie, reading, walking, doing a hobby or talking to a friend. Even a small step toward self-soothing can break the cycle of negative thinking. Though using coping skills in a bad feeling moment can be challenging, they can be effective. Note negative coping strategies like binge-watching, using substances or isolating. These feel protective, but do not build healing and resilience.
4. Supportive and trusting relationships
Rebuilding trust is difficult, especially when those who were supposed to care for you were the source of pain. Still, supportive relationships are essential for healing. Trust is something to be rebuilt slowly, let others earn it, even if it takes time, but don’t give up on it entirely. Support and connection can come in many forms, playing a video game together, taking a walk, and sometimes talking about the intense feelings you are having.
5. Physical well-being
Neglecting physical health often follows episodes of trauma and emotional distress. Caring for your body is vital to mental health and recovery. Those who have been neglected must be mindful not to repeat that pattern with themselves. Small steps and routines can break patterns of poor self-care, one day at a time. Removing a negative coping food item that you overeat from the house, making sure you get outside for at least a few minutes each day, moving your body and scheduling medical checkups are small steps that can lead to larger changes in how you treat yourself and manage your health.
6. Setting limits and boundaries
Protect yourself by setting boundaries around the actions of others that affect you negatively. Know your limits and understand what you simply cannot be around during your healing. You aren’t obligated to do things that make you feel worse, and certain people, places, and experiences may be better left for a time when you are feeling stronger. For example, avoiding places or activities that trigger traumatic memories can be helpful in the early stages of healing. Setting limits is an act of self-care.
7. Purpose and connection to values
Stay connected to what truly matters to you. Living according to your values is the essence of purpose, and maintaining this connection supports overall mental health. Identify your values with a list if they are unclear to you. Once identified, you can pay attention to how you are meeting your own needs and desires in your life.
8. Taking action
Don’t allow yourself to remain stuck in pain. Seek help or take small steps forward, rather than seeing yourself as broken, you are not. Suffering is an unfortunate part of human experience. Staying in suffering, however, is not required and is harmful. Getting out of your head and sharing your thoughts and feelings is a great way to begin to heal. Therapy can be an absolute game-changer in your healing process.
9. Maintaining balance
Healing is hard when life feels overwhelming and unbalanced. Many people come to therapy because their life feels out of balance, too much of the hard things or too little of the good. Strive for equilibrium. Note what you need to adjust in your life to create a space for you to feel better. Structure is important, and be sure to schedule some time regularly for you to experience reflection, rest, and peace.
10. Positive self-talk
What you tell yourself every day shapes your reality. Trauma often teaches us harmful lessons about ourselves and the world. An especially unfortunate artifact of trauma can be that our inner voice echoes the negativity of those who hurt us. Notice if you are using someone else’s words or messages to still harm you and work to change that narrative.
If these points resonate, consider starting your healing journey. Therapy is always a good option, as is talking with someone you trust. For a deeper dive into trauma and resilience, listen to my podcast episode, click here.
Read more from Deborah Brown
Deborah Brown, Psychotherapist and Behavioral Health Entrepreneur
Dr. Deborah Brown is a psychotherapist and behavioral health entrepreneur. She is a thought leader in the field of mental health, working to fight mental health stigma and increase public awareness about mental health-related issues. Dr. Brown developed Brownstone Mental Health Services, a large group practice that is revolutionizing the way that mental health therapy is provided. She can be heard on the My Session with Dr. Deborah Brown podcast.
