How to Get Hope

Gaining Hope During Healing

Photo by Peter Boccia on Unsplash

I am sorry I haven’t written on my blog for a while. I was very sick with RSV, the virus infecting many children. I’m better now, but I began to think about the topic of hope while I was sick.

This article will focus on hope for those who live with the after-effects of childhood (complex) trauma and how it can change your life.

Complex Trauma, What is It?

Complex trauma usually refers to events that are repeated and harrowing. Children, especially, are affected by complex trauma. Many mental health diagnoses are caused, at least partially, by complex trauma, such as complex post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative identity disorder.

One of the most significant impacts complex trauma has on a person is that they lose their sense of hope for the future. Somehow, the message that “I am not good enough” digs into the person’s psyche, skewing how survivors see themselves and others.

Relational (complex) trauma gives its victims a looming sense of despair; the thoughts accompanying it are often full of negativity that dominates the survivor’s awareness.

There are many treatments for complex trauma to give the survivor their life back. These include eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), psychotherapy…