Sharing a traumatic event with a therapist or peers can seem frightening. What will people think? Will they blame you? Will you be able to recover from the event if you keep talking about it?
You’re Not Alone
Unfortunately, many, many people experience trauma of all kinds, and chances are that the people in your recovery group have experienced more than their share. By sharing your story with others in recovery, you could be helping more people than you know. When someone feels like they are alone and no one understands them, hearing someone else sharing a traumatic event can give them the strength and confidence to do the same.
Trust Is Crucial
It’s important in sharing a traumatic event that you work with someone you trust. Counselors, therapists, and other addiction specialists are trained in dealing with trauma. These people can help you develop the necessary recovery skills and coping mechanisms so drugs and alcohol are not your solutions anymore. Sharing a traumatic event with a therapist can make you feel like you are exposing yourself, but you are actually empowering yourself by sharing these traumatic memories.
When we hold on to deeply rooted emotional turmoil, such as with traumatic events, we are allowing the trauma to control our lives. Sharing a traumatic event is a way to not let whatever happened have control over you anymore. You are empowering yourself by taking control of the trauma, and then giving it away to a higher power.
Your Sponsor Can Help
When sharing a traumatic event, it is always helpful to do so with a trusted sponsor.
Sponsors are people just like everyone else. They are, however, people who have gone through the 12 Steps and have knowledge about the recovery program. If you attend a recovery program and have a sponsor, you may feel like you can trust that person to guide you through the difficult and uncomfortable aspects of your past and help you move forward. Trauma can sometimes be the driving force behind drug and alcohol usage. Sharing a traumatic event with someone you trust is a great way to discover power within yourself that you didn’t even know existed.
Get the help and support you need if you have a loved one struggling with addiction. Contact us today.
