Healing Traumatic Memories Matters ( 2-Step Trauma-Awareness Guide)
As a trauma-informed therapist, I have had the privilege of working with medical professionals and first responders, those brave souls and heroes who rush toward danger to offer help when the rest of us are running away, who navigate life and death situations daily. Recently, a client came to me seeking help with traumatic memories. He was a seasoned emergency nurse, hardened by years of witnessing heart-breaking scenes. But here’s the surprising part: he hadn’t tapped into the resources available at work.
The Curious Case of My Client
My client, whom I’ll refer to as John, had witnessed it all: accidents, car wrecks, life slipping away in his arms, and the anguish of families. Yet, when it came to addressing his own emotional wounds, he hesitated. Why? I wondered.
Was it a lack of awareness of what was happening to him? Did he underestimate the impact of trauma on his own health? Or perhaps, like many first responders, he feared the stigma associated with seeking help available at his work place. Well at this point, in his case it didn’t matter anymore. What was important was to start untangling his traumatic memories, providing him with the relief form the many symptoms that made it impossible to enjoy life.
Healing Trauma Matters
Traumatization isn’t limited to first responders alone. It can affect professionals across various fields.
And it can take one of the 3 forms:
- Firsthand trauma occurs when you are a direct participant in an event. Surgeons performing life-saving procedures or high-stakes surgeries. War correspondents on the frontlines facing danger, Dispatchers handling distress calls experiencing the urgency and fear.
- Secondary trauma where you are witnessing traumatic event. For instance nurses and doctors witnessing a family’s grief, witnessing a colleague loosing a patient, or newsroom editors reviewing graphic footage or photos.
- And thirdhand trauma where you hear about an event from someone else. Such as therapists working with crime, accident or abuse survivors. Work colleagues sharing experiences about tragic loss.
2 Step Guidance for John and Others Like Him
I wish John knew this years ago.
- Regular Check-Ins
Knowing now, what you know after reading the previous paragraph, about accumulating nature of trauma over time and creating further vulnerability to traumatization, it’s a no brainer to check-in with yourself on regular base. The moments for introspection are part of your self-care. Ask yourself: How am I coping? Am I sleeping well? Am I haunted by memories?
What to look for? Nightmares, flash-backs, strong emotional responses, physiological arousal. And they all have one thing in common. You will feel very similar effects on yourself as during the traumatization itself. It’s usually an emotion, and accompanying physiological response such fear and faster heartbeat, sweaty or shaky hands, pressure in the head, throat, numbness or tingling in the legs are just a few examples.
- SUD (Subjective Units of Distress)
When you experience a flashback close your eyes for a moment and revisit that event. As you are remembering it, scan your body. What is happening? And most importantly, on the scale of 0-10 (10 being the most intense), how distressed you feel right now? How much activated your body is by just brining the memory to your mind?
You guessed it right. If your number is above 4 or 5, this event still has active attachments in your nervous system. It is not just a memory. You are re-living this trauma with the reminders in your environment.
Alternatively…
But, if you are similar to me, you would approach this form a different end. Take a pen and paper and start writing down all the stressful events that come to mind until you have a list of them. Then rate them one by one using the SUD rating system. This way, you will find out which of your memories are traumatically encoded (SUD above 5) and therefore still active, and which ones are processed and stored away. You can then pick the highest rated and start with resolving those with a guide from your therapist.
The importance of intervention
Trauma has profound consequences on our mental health, and by extension, on our physical health. It alters our brain’s landscape, making us more susceptible to further traumatic experiences. However, intervention can mitigate this vulnerability.
Our knowledge is expanding in understanding this phenomenon and today we have many different methods to help individuals who suffer from trauma, such as rapid and content-free therapies . We now understand the mechanisms at play during traumatization and what happens in the brain. Moreover, we now know that these effects can be reversed by implementing targeted methods providing you with relief.
Seek Support at Work or Externally.
If, like John, you hesitate to seek assistance in the workplace, consider exploring therapy outside of work. As a trauma-informed therapist I can create a safe space and guidance for processing your memories. It’s important for you to normalize help-seeking for yourself and encourage colleagues to seek assistance without judgment. Prioritizing mental well-being and using self-assessment tools can help address traumatic memories promptly. Remember, seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
So, whether you’re a surgeon, an ER nurse, a paramedic, a firefighter, or a law-enforcement officer, remember this: you’re human first. Prioritize your well-being. Seek help early. Because healing isn’t just about saving others. It’s about saving yourself too.