Imagine your mind is a vast storage unit, filled with boxes. These aren’t just ordinary boxes. Some of them contain bright cheerful memories like your best friends laugh or the first time you saw a rainbow. But other boxes are packed with past traumas. They contain unprocessed feelings and thoughts so powerful and overwhelming that your brain cannot handle them. So why bother with them? Simple. They affect every aspect of your life whether you realize it or not.
Everyone says you should face your fears, but it’s far more challenging for those who have experienced a traumatic event. Even a simple fear can seem monumental. Why? Because when you try to face a fear, you’re not just living in a singular moment. Instead, you are also encountering unprocessed traumatic memories triggered by a sight, a sound, a smell or taste. This is why people who have experienced trauma can feel paralyzed from fear or unexpected event like a surprise birthday party or being stalled in traffic.
Just talking to a stranger, or going to the grocery store can lead to a panic attack.
Sure, it’s ‘normal’ to feel a little anxiety from doing something out of your comfort zone, but you’re not just dealing with that one moment in time. Instead, you are facing the pent up fear from your past.
It doesn’t have to be this way. You can heal and the key to healing is “processing” your emotions.
“What does processing look like?”
Processing is a vague term that doesn’t offer much information. So let me break it down for you in 4 simple steps to help you unpack your emotional boxes and start your healing journey.
Step 1: Begin by identifying the sensory data from the past traumatic event. Sensory data includes anything you’ve seen, heard, touched, smelled, or tasted. Recognizing these sensations helps us identify associated emotions and thoughts.
Step 2: Once you’ve identified your sensory data, focus on the emotions and bodily sensations linked with it. It’s important to release these feelings in a controlled and safe way. You might discover a thought or phrase that accompanies these emotions – repeating this can help release them. Remember, the fuller you allow yourself to feel and truly express them, the faster they will be released.
Step 3: Thoughts often accompany emotions and bodily sensations. Identify them, question them, reinterpret them, and try to reshape them into more logical, constructive, and truthful narratives. This process will likely bring up more emotions, which should also be released.
Step 4: Unpacking a box might uncover specific memories related to the trauma. It’s essential to explore these memories and release the emotions tied to them. If you begin with the most significant memory and let your mind jump to other related memories, you might experience the “domino effect” – processing one memory that triggers a series of other memories.It’s important to remember that while doing this, you always remain in control.
It’s like driving a car – you can let your emotions be passengers, but you always have one hand on the wheel, guiding the journey.
About The Author
Brad Schipke is the co-founder of OvercomingPTSD.com that helps people independently heal trauma without therapy or medication. You can join his newsletter here: https://overcomingptsd.com/