Page 192 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5
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Trauma Recovery Training at a Seminary? Introducing Global Trauma Recovery Institute
did not know it at the time, the great moment pen and we cannot stop it from happening. It is
of his utter abandonment to that stepfather for time. Trauma recovery needs talking, tears and
his mother never returned. Seeing life through time and it must have all three. If you do not tell
the blinds meant people cannot be trusted, they the story there will be no recovery. People will
always leave and your safety is up to you alo- stay stuck in the past and controlled by the trau-
ne. He was eight years old. Such symbolic me- ma – either because they use tremendous ener-
mories tell the larger story as for example, the gy to keep it away or because it controls their
death of a child may also be how the survivor sleep, their relationships, their feelings, their
tells you about the death of any hope or being actions and faith. It must be spoken over and
traumatized by a religious person may also tell over again. Trauma recovery needs tears. Tears
the story of the death of faith for someone. As honor the victim and the awfulness of what
you listen to the story and see and experience occurred. Tears express buried emotions that
the emotions it is also important to follow the haunt sleep and disturb life. Tears honor tho-
most intense emotions and listen for the larger se who have been lost – they are worth crying
story as well – often one the survivor does not over. Tears are a way of remembering. Expres-
hear him/herself saying. sing emotions, finding words for them is also
One of the characteristics of dealing with trau- a way of gaining mastery over them. In both
ma is the repetitious nature of that work. Sur- talking and tears, the victim is staring down the
vivors will say the same things over and over – trauma as one might stare down an enemy and
“How could my father do that to me…” They saying: I will speak of you; you will not silence
will be repetitious in dealing with their emo- me. I will tell how you have brought terrible
tions – “I am so angry that…” And they will pain into my life. I will remember those I lost. I
repeat their losses again and again – “I cannot will be in charge of my own story and give it the
believe so-and-so is dead…” Expect it and learn space and honor it is due. It mattered then and
to sit with it. The magnitude of the trauma is it matters now.
so great that repetition is necessary. The mind Clearly it takes time for these things to happen.
cannot imagine what happened. It cannot hold It talks time for words to come. It takes time to
such a thought. Bearing the intensity of emo- listen and understand. It takes time for feelings
tions is impossible and so the feelings must be to be expressed and understood. Recovery from
tried on again and again. These are attempts to anything takes time. If you fall off some steps
bear what cannot be born. They are struggles and break a bone it will take time for the doc-
to integrate into life what does not fit for there tor to understand what bone is broken and what
are no categories. Be patient and then be pa- needs to happen to heal it. He will need to sit
tient some more. Telling and re-telling helps with and listen and explore so he understands
to reduce the memory in size. Talking or tel- exactly what the problem is. You will hurt. You
ling the story and expressing the feelings that will be in pain. Even after the doctor does some
go with the tragedy are actually instruments in things to help the bone reset; it will still hurt.
the hands of the survivor that they can use to- You may want your leg to be better tomorrow.
ward their own healing. It is a way of gaining You may want the pain to be over. It will not
mastery over fear and helplessness; it is a choice change the pace at which times proceeds. It al-
toward life rather than death. To hear a story ways goes by one minute at a time and there is
is to be taught but to tell a story is to be master nothing you can do about it. Time is needed
over it. To tell that story with all the emotions for recovery. It is not the same amount for each
that accompany that in a way that can be heard trauma survivor. Some take longer and some
and understood by another is to have learned do not. There are many reasons for this. But no
how to speak truth and contain it so it does not matter how strong someone is; no matter how
swallow you up. hard they work to tell their story and express
There is third thing that must occur for trauma their feelings; it still will take time. And I can
recovery to begin and grow. The third thing we tell you two things for sure about time: there is
have no control over. We cannot make it hap- nothing we can do to make it go faster and se-
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