How to Heal from Family Trauma 🔥⚔️🔥 Article with my clipnotes #HealingGenerationalTrauma #CPTSD&Me

Aloha beautiful people ❤️❤️ and welcome to CPTSD and me ; Working through the chaos .

Today's article goes through "Family Trauma" and how to heal from it . Along side this article , you will also have clipnotes from me , giving context into my own personal life situation at the moment . It is how I run this blog , I post medical articles , mental health resources and Complex PTSD information of all types , websites that are great for us to visit and get help from on our own healing journeys , and so much more . We have a community forum page , where I have started a few introduction topics, please feel free to start your own within the forum page, there's a "start new forum" button, and please feel free to comment and interact on anything you see and relate too! Let's get to know one another via these forums and build up a online Mental health resource community , if you are not into socializing , that's COMPLETELY FINE AS WELL . I am just super happy you are here either way . Now let's jump right in . The reason I am sharing this today , is it is something I am desperately trying to dive into : healing generational trauma ... It's about time we ALL heal ....

Ways to heal from family and generational trauma.

Trauma is something that everyone has even if they may not realize it. Family trauma is trauma that affects an entire family unit, and is often discussed in conjunction with generational trauma or trauma that is passed through generations.

Whether the cause of the trauma is a one-time thing or a series of occurrences, trauma is often difficult to understand and defend against at the time. Family trauma can be especially difficult because though it affects a family unit, each individual may experience their trauma differently.

In this article we’ll discuss the ways in which you can process and heal family trauma.

What is trauma?

While there are many ways in which trauma is categorized, trauma is the result of a negative event or experience.

Trauma is an event or experience that causes significant psychological, physical, or emotional harm to the person (or people) experiencing it. It is typically something negative that happens too fast or too much for the brain to process it. Trauma can have a significant impact on a person’s ability to function or cope and may lead to lasting psychological or physical struggles.

Trauma can come in many different forms, but there are many things that are generally considered traumatic events. In their life, a person may experience a traumatic event such as:

✔️Abuse (physical, emotional, or financial)

✔️Physical or sexual assault

✔️Car accident

✔️Death of a loved one

✔️Physical injury

✔️Parental abandonment

✔️Witnessing a crime, accident, or death

Symptoms of Trauma :

While trauma affects all people differently there are some common reactions that a majority of people have to experiencing trauma.

Symptoms of trauma can include:

Intrusive thoughts or flashbacks (intrusive memories): Intrusive thoughts or memories are unpleasant and unwanted thoughts and memories often triggered by something that reminds you of the traumatic experience..

(yep.. all the. Time. )

Hypervigilance and hyperarousal: Following a traumatic event it is natural to feel on-guard or hyper aware of your surroundings or the environment that you are in. You may also feel more on-edge or anxious as your body is more sensitive to potential danger and preparing to fight, flee, or freeze. (I personally am in this state 24/7, since a young child. I am now 34. It has destroyed my muscles and muscular system.. it's actually called "muscle armoring" is in this blog, search for the post at c-ptsdandme.com )

Feeling unsafe: Traumatic events or experiences shatter the idea of the world being a safe place, as many occur suddenly and unexpectedly. They can make formerly safe spaces feel threatening and anxiety-producing.

(Speaking of this , How's this for family disfunction--- I live in constant fear as we speak , as I write this, due to this , after finally escaping the same fear for years hiding in my room at my dads, since this past September, when my "uncle" flipped the f out on me, completely drunk screaming up at my door and all through the yard spitting in my face trying to knock me out , and he now won't say one word to me and my closest family have seemingly casted me out in their silence ,due to me seeking any type of emotional support from them. This whole thing has been so disgusting to see , my family acting such ways and playing such disgusting cover up games . Plain and simple , someone physically attacked another , and he is in the wrong for doing so , so he needs to put his big boy panties on now and fucking use his voice and explain what happened , since we all have to live on the same property and I personally deserve to feel safe again. Why the fuck can't my family understand that We need to stand up for ourselves in life. Don't accept anything less in life from this point on, any longer , then what you know you deserve !! )

How to heal from family trauma: (wow what a thought)

Healing from trauma as a family can be especially difficult, as every individual experiences trauma differently, however there is ALWAYS HOPE , (AMEN!!), for recovery. ⚔️💯😭🥰❤️ ( amen amen , guys there is ALWAYS HOPE. Please never forget how important you truly are . We must love ourselves so much , especially more so on the days we are feeling extra crappy, no matter how hard it is . We ARE worth it.)

No matter who your family is, it probably has its secrets…or more likely unprocessed traumas that are now impacting multiple generations even if they are unacknowledged. (Such as my actual family . Noone will acknowledge shit. Seriously . Exactly like my dad ALWAYS told me , and my dad was the worst of them all , or so I thought. )💯⚔️💯🔥

Many family dynamics don’t give space for honest discussions about what members are feeling or what experiences have impacted their lives in significant negative ways.

It is easy to share the positive experiences that you are having with loved ones but much harder to be honest about any struggles you may be facing. However, avoiding certain topics, memories, or feelings doesn’t help anyone process them at all. In fact, avoiding such things can sometimes make their impact on your life worse. (This is what I keep trying to explain to the ones in my family that just can't seem to understand why this is hurting us all , even though they don't acknowledge it , or stay to busy to even notice... It's not fair to be stuck and held back due to others selfishness , so we must try to heal in any way we can..)

While everyone’s process of healing trauma is different, there are several steps that you and your loved ones can take to process family trauma:

(•••••Family and friends can make good support systems in addition to seeking professional help for healing trauma•••• if they are grown enough to acknowledge it. Alot of times , especially when they are the source... They will refuse to acknowledge any of it .)

Recognize and acknowledge the traumatic experience or event

Acknowledge the feelings that come with that traumatic experience or event

☝️☝️☝️This can even mean us ourselves acknowledging certain things we have a hard time acknowledging, in order to be able to fully embrace and give ourselves the self love we need .Ps-- I love this infographic here above that I found online. xo jazzy )

Seek proper support

Acknowledging trauma

Acknowledging and sitting with the emot

ions that come from experiencing trauma can be difficult and in family units, each member will probably come to acknowledge these emotions at different times.

It’s important that each individual processes trauma in their own way and at their own pace. That said, communicating and talking about the trauma can be an extremely positive experience as well, as long as everyone’s feelings are respected.

Processing your emotions

The first step in processing your emotions is identifying what you are feeling as you feel them without distracting yourself or pushing them away. (This is a huge one I am focusing on at the moment . I am working on stopping and focusing on what I am truly feeling at the moment when I get certain ways and noticing ways to self soothe ..) You can either sit with your emotions, acknowledging them and letting them pass, or use methods such as journaling to work through them. (I started journaling in November 2022, it does helps tremendously )

When you’re working on processing your emotions it is important to remember that emotions aren’t processed overnight. It can take time to become comfortable with sitting with your emotions or even understand the wide variety of emotions you may feel about the experience. Giving yourself and those around you time to process feelings is important for truly healing from trauma.

Seeking help

Seeking help and support can feel daunting, especially if you haven’t fully accepted the reality of what you’ve experienced. While it is possible to work through some emotions on your own if it feels too overwhelming or difficult it is important to reach out for help or support. (I am extremely grateful to have been accepted into a CPTSD trauma healing specialist in Hilo, Hawaii , and she is jumping me straight into edmr treatments after the EMDR prep sessions -- if any of you , my readers, have went through this treatment, let me know your pros and cons please in comments below ❤️❤️❤️)

Having a support network of trustworthy family and friends can be really beneficial during this time and finding a professional counselor or therapist may be something to consider if you are really struggling. (If your like me , you reached out , and they all zip their lips , pack their bags and run..)

No matter where you find help and support, being as honest as possible and giving yourself grace as you navigate this process is extremely important. Take your time and don’t let anyone (even yourself) make you feel like you should be healing at a faster rate than you are.

Moving forward

Wherever you are in your healing journey it’s important to take time for yourself to just relax. If you are able, find time to go on a walk or do something active that helps to get you out of your mind and into your body. Talk to people about everyday things and find ways to create a sense of normalcy even if you don’t feel “normal” quite yet.

Know that in time much of the pain you are feeling will diminish, even if it never goes away completely. This is not to say that there won’t still be trials and bad days or in any way saying that what you and your family experienced is something that can be forgotten. Letting go is not necessarily about letting go of the pain and more about letting go of the power that that pain can have on your life and the lives of your loved ones.

💌💌💌💌The article used above (without my added side notes , can be found in it's full original glory athttps://www.transformationsnetwork.com/post/how-to-heal-from-family-trauma) 💌💌💌

Guys I just gotta say ok, Know that you have the power to do anything you put your mind too. The fact that they (whoever in your story that hurt you by their actions , or silence ) won't acknowledge anything is completely on them, their regret, not you .

yes, it crushes our souls , but only in the darkest night do we find our TRUE light . That light is WITHIN. Try to Heal those parts of you that you are protecting internally with that anger and the "staying to busy to even breathe" daze ...and uncover the true LIGHT within ❤️❤️❤️❤️ we all have it ... We have to be fully open to it though, and the path to that, is sure as F a frustrating one !

LOVE YOURSELF EXACTLY HOW YOU WANTED THEM TO LOVE YOU .

YOU ARE THAT LIGHT.

I LOVE YOU!

XOX JAZZY