Healing Trauma Quotes

My pain has always deserved a voice and I will not deny it that, but I won't devote my life to it either. ~ Trista Mateer

Your external world mirrors your internal state. Heal the parts of you that need your attention or you will forever live out your pain for all to see. ~ Dana Hall LCPC, MA, TF-CBT

There is no one way to recover and heal from any trauma. Each survivor chooses their own path or stumbles across it. ~ Laurie Matthew

We remember the people who show up in our darkest hours. ~ Shauna L. Hoey

Having my defenses down felt good. I didn't realize how much energy it took to carry my armor. My wall of protection kept bad stuff out, but it also kept good stuff from coming in. Guarding my heart is important, but not at the expense of being known by people who love me. ~ Shauna L. Hoey

At sixty one, I was at the top of my professional career, a wife, mother, and grandmother with many wonderful friends--and absolutely terrified....I was unaware of living as multiple identifies, but did spend my life running away from a 'me' I could neither understand nor tolerate....The first step to becoming one whole person happened to me the day in therapy when I became aware of the three adults who had been living in separate compartments in my brain. I saw them and they saw each other....A perfect three-point landing. ~ Janyne McConnaughey

All this I told Juniper, and she listened in the quiet, dispassionate way she had when you told her something truly terrible. It was as if she was joining things together in her mind, making some act of love and healing where otherwise all was violence and despair. ~ Monica Furlong

Before the crisis, my life moved along like a well-planned play. I showed up and acted my part while the script directed the flow. The devastation demanded I grieve while the play of my life continued around me. I wished I could stop the spinning stage long enough to catch my breath. ~ Shauna L. Hoey

The sooner we heal our traumas, the sooner we liberate ourselves from the people who hurt us. By hating them, we hold onto them. We cannot heal. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

Sometimes the people around you won't understand your journey. They don't need to, it's not for them. ~ Joubert Botha

Healing starts the moment you accept the truth about what has happened. But healing doesn't come quickly. When you know that death or pain has come, you face a moment when you stare that pain in the eyes and declare that you will not be defeated by it. Then you turn away and grieve." -Chris Pepple, Without a Voice ~ Chris Pepple

It is this honest connection behveen two human beings that, in the end, makes what we endured together understandable and meaningful. ~ Lynn I. Wilson

Healing doesn't just take a little time, it also takes commitment to get started and to complete the process. ~ Sereda Aleta Dailey

Create a healing Spark from what has been detached from the electricity that flows from the wounds. ~ Tasha Waller

Heartache purged layers of baggage I didn't know I carried. Gifts hide under the layers of grief. ~ Shauna L. Hoey

Be a pain transformer,
not a pain transmitter.
This is the only way
the world will heal. ~ John Mark Green

Rest is not the answer
Activity and therapy help healing most ~ Joerg Teichmann

So, what role does memory play in the understanding and treatment of trauma? There is a form of implicit memory that is profoundly unconscious and forms the basis for the imprint trauma leaves on the body/mind. The type of memory utilized in learning most physical activities (walking, riding a bike, skiing, etc.) is a form of implicit memory called procedural memory. Procedural or "body memories" are learned sequences of coordinated "motor acts" chained together into meaningful actions. You may not remember explicitly how and when you learned them, but, at the appropriate moment, they are (implicitly) "recalled" and mobilized (acted out) simultaneously. These memories (action patterns) are formed and orchestrated largely by involuntary structures in the cerebellum and basal ganglia.

When a person is exposed to overwhelming stress, threat or injury, they develop a procedural memory. Trauma occurs when these implicit procedures are not neutralized. The failure to restore homeostasis is at the basis for the maladaptive and debilitating symptoms of trauma. ~ Peter A. Levine

Diplomacy, Democracy, and parenting are very much the same. It's an act of creating and maintaining control over people without them becoming aware of it while rousing their allegiance through fear or manipulation to protect your right to continue taking advantage of them and their loyalty. ~ Mitch Alexander

By listening to the "unspoken voice" of my body and allowing it to do what it needed to do; by not stopping the shaking, by "tracking" my inner sensations, while also allowing the completion of the defensive and orienting responses; and by feeling the "survival emotions" of rage and terror without becoming overwhelmed, I came through mercifully unscathed, both physically and emotionally. I was not only thankful; I was humbled and grateful to find that I could use my method for my own salvation.

While some people are able to recover from such trauma on their own, many individuals do not. Tens of thousands of soldiers are experiencing the extreme stress and horror of war. Then too, there are the devastating occurrences of rape, sexual abuse and assault. Many of us, however, have been overwhelmed by much more "ordinary" events such as surgeries or invasive medical procedures. Orthopedic patients in a recent study, for example, showed a 52% occurrence of being diagnosed with full-on PTSD following surgery.

Other traumas include falls, serious illnesses, abandonment, receiving shocking or tragic news, witnessing violence and getting into an
auto accident; all can lead to PTSD. These and many other fairly common experiences are all potentially traumatizing. The inability to rebound from such events, or to be helped adequately to recover by professionals, can subject us to PTSD - along with a myriad of physical and emotional symptoms. ~ Peter A. Levine

You have extraordinary power to establish justice and make a real difference in the lives of those whom the enemy took unfair advantage of.....through trauma. ~ Jim Banks

I've heard some people claim that their abuser/rapist made them stronger. We must realize that abusers and predators don't get credit for our strength, nor our healing. They did not make us stronger. Rather, the abusers and predators broke us. They shattered us. They turned our lives into a living hell. They violated us! Do you know who made you stronger? Do you know who made you brave? YOU did! You are a courageous survivor. You did the hard work. You overcame great obstacles. You are the one healing you. You did it! ~ Dana Arcuri

However, we have to acknowledge that living with DID presents huge challenges; it is complex and complicated. But our diagnosis was the key to us accessing services and funding, which has enabled us to return to life within the community and to have a positive future. We can see constructive, productive elements in our life, and our faith plays a strong part in this. ~ Carol Broad

It is difficult to see yourself the way others see you. ~ Alfonso Wyatt

It wasn't until I began to see my own trauma as a creation myth that I could truthfully begin to heal. A myth is only a myth after all. It is not set in stone. It was truth, but shouldn't be truth forever...The myth can change. ~ Javier Zamora

What we need is a culture where the common experience of trauma leads to a normalization of healing. Being able to say I have good reasons to be scared of the dark, of raised voices, of being swallowed up by love, of being alone. And being able to offer each other: I know a healer for you. I'll hold your hand in the dark. Let's begin a meditation practice. Perhaps talk therapy is not enough. We should celebrate love in our community as a measure of healing. The expectation should be -- I know we are all in need of healing -- so how are we doing our healing work? ~ Adrienne Maree Brown

Commit to the healing path and trust the process. ~ Rosenna Bakari

Healing hurts. If you break your leg, there is no stage in the healing process when your leg feels better than it does after it has healed. There is pain and itching and loss of strength. From the moment your leg is broken, it continues to feel bad ... until, gradually, it starts to feel less bad. It's appropriate that it hurts. ~ Emily Nagoski

You must remember that your story matters. What you write has the power to save a life, sometimes that life is your own. ~ Stalina Goodwin

The wounded mind must be reset like a fractured bone. It cannot heal itself without spiritual realignment. ~ Anthon St. Maarten

How ironic that our family should be a safe haven. Our parents and siblings are supposed to love us, accept us, and care for us. They should protect us and support us. Sometimes, our home is where we find the deepest heartaches. ~ Dana Arcuri

Trauma isn't going to win today. Remember how Daphne turned into the laurel tree? This is what you must do too. Form your own roots, feed from the earth that still loves you. Remember how. ~ Nikita Gill

Joshua is one of the people who taught me about respecting pace, particularly when it is very slow.

I do believe we all heal as quickly as we can given the co-integrating nature of our embodied brains, so when the process unfolds very slowly, it often speaks to us of the magnitude of what is coming [emerging to be healed]. ~ Bonnie Badenoch

Imagine a world in which medicine was oriented toward healing rather than disease, where doctors believed in the natural healing capacity of human beings and emphasized prevention above treatment. In such a world, doctors and patients would be partners working toward the same ends. ~ Andrew Weil

A truly extraordinary work: vivid, passionate and utterly compelling. The Sound of One Hand Clapping is raw as a wound. It opens a world that is strange, brutal and poetic at once and ultimately achieves the kind of spirit-healing few novels do ~ Niall Williams

When I'm triggered, I think, "This will last forever" or "What if this lasts forever?" I get thoughts about how I should give up, run away, hide, protect myself. These thoughts, I cannot change. What I can change is how I respond to them. Will I unconditionally believe these ideas, or will I accept them as side effects of the temporary experience of pain? Will I act on each thought that arises in the burning fire, or will I hold myself gently and say, "It'll be okay. I know it hurts. I love you"? My power lies in these choices. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

Love much dear friends for love will bring the healing joy and hope of Spring ... ~ John McLeod

People like to say that the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. There tends to be a whispered reverence around the expression, as if it has magical healing powers. Better to be hated than ignored by that angry ex of yours; better to be hated than ignored, generally.

Otherwise, you may spend your life staring straight down the barrel of the opposite of love.

But I think that's bullshit. Nonsense print copy for a paper towel. A sound bit e to needlepoint on a throw pillow. Could indifference really be worse than hate? How depressing to think we could be spending most of our days surrounded by people who feel something worse than hate toward us. ~ Julie Buxbaum

The beauty that emerges from woundedness is a beauty infused with feeling; a beauty different from the beauty of landscape and the cold perfect form. This is a beauty that has suffered its way through the ache of desolation until the words or music emerged to equal the hunger and desperation at its heart. It must also be said that not all woundedness succeeds in finding its way through to beauty of form. Most woundedness remains hidden, lost inside forgotten silence. Indeed, in every life there is some wound that continues to weep secretly, even after years of attempted healing. Where woundedness can be refined into beauty a wonderful transfiguration takes place. ~ John O'Donohue

May the Lord heal every sick soul. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

To me, as to Pythagoras, music is not merely entertainment or amusement ... but therapy ... for actuating ... the healing power that exists within us all: Life Energy. ~ John Diamond

To stop the drug traffic is not the best way to prevent people from using drugs. The best way is to practice the Fifth Precept and to help others practice. Consuming mindfully is the intelligent way to stop ingesting toxins into our consciousness and prevent the malaise from becoming overwhelming. Learning the art of touching and ingesting refreshing, nourishing, and healing elements is the way to restore our balance and transform the pain and loneliness that are already in us. To do this, we have to practice together. The practice of mindful consuming should become a national policy. It should be considered true peace education ... Those who are destroying themselves, their families, and their society by intoxicating themselves are not doing it intentionally. Their pain and loneliness are overwhelming, and they want to escape. They need to be helped, not punished. Only understanding and compassion on a collective level can liberate us (78-79). ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Healing cannot occur by refusing to listen to the truth, unsettling as it may be. ~ Slade Combs

I don't understand what it was about you, but since that first day, that first text you sent me, it was perfect and everything I needed and you knew. " I lifted my head to look at him. "You just knew the right things to say and that right times to call. You healed me. You didn't know it but you did!"
"You were healing me, too, babe. ~ J. Daniels

I believe that what Genesis suggests is that this original self, with the print of God's thumb still upon it, is the most essential part of who we are and is buried deep in all of us as a source of wisdom and strength and healing which we can draw upon or, with our terrible freedom, not draw upon as we choose. I think that among other things all real art comes from that deepest self - painting, writing music, dance, all of it that in some way nourishes the spirit. ~ Frederick Buechner

I wished I didn't need an ocean of space to feel comfortable. I still wanted to be loved. Yet again I felt like two people: one who desperately needed a hug, and one who would break apart at the slightest touch. How could I get people to keep their distance without leaving completely? How long would it take for them to get tired of the way I flinched and evaded? ~ Ruby Walker

When we seek to escape from inner conflict and pain, we are running away from unresolved childhood trauma or original pain. Most people with serious addictive natures who are in the process of recovery have found that trauma played a huge role in escalating their addictions. It certainly did for me. ~ Christopher Dines

It's possible that the chief of trauma surgery has things backwards. It's possible, even likely, that for all military medicine contributes to specialized skilks, it actually detracts from civilian medicine be diverting resources, research, and personnel from medical practices more relevant and applicable to the general good. ~ Ann Jones

I think spiritualism, mesmerism, the mental healing movement, provided some people with the most meaningful experiences of their lives. ~ Mitch Horowitz

No successes we might have are guaranteed to last as long as industrial civilization stands. Conversely, most of our losses are effectively permanent. Extinct species cannot be resurrected. Overdrawn aquifers or clear-cut forests will not return to their original states on timescales meaningful to humans. The destruction of land-based cultures, and the deliberate impoverishment of much of humanity, results in major loss and long-­term social trauma. With sufficient action, it's possible to solve many of the problems we face, but if that action doesn't materialize in time, the effects are irreversible. ~ Aric McBay

It doesn't take two minutes on an examining table for a girl to know that abortion is painful and destructive and it'll have far-reaching effects on her life. Besides the emotional trauma of going through something so violent, there are the physical aspects, the aftereffects. Unfortunately, by the time she's gone that far, it's too late to change her mind. ~ Francine Rivers

where do i find self love?'
you dig
dig until you find the gold ~ Jenai Charles

She had not had the relief of amnesia. She had suffered longer, and she had suffered more. Each second was agony in the first weeks. She was like an amputee in the days before anesthesia, half crazed with pain, astounded that the human body could feel so much and not die of it. But slowly, cell by painful cell, she began to mend. There came a time when it was no longer her whole body that burned with pain but only her heart. And then there came a time when even her heart was able, for a time at least, to feel other emotions besides grief. ~ Diane Setterfield

Emotions are not problems to be solved. They are signals to be interpreted. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

Evil has a way of propagating like a plague. Where plague is a disease of the body, evil is a disease of the soul. It spreads through our actions: an act of evil done to someone infests their soul, so that they desire to do evil in return. And evil grows with each turn, the revenge act must be the greater. The best way to deal with evil is to turn it into something good, before it has the chance to spread. Each of us has the ability to have evil stop with us.
Anonymous. The Treatise of Wisdom (Kindle Locations 4492-4494). Unknown. ~ Anonymous

Any hope that America would finally grow up vanished with the rise of fundamentalist Christianity. Fundamentalism, with its born-again regression, its pink-and-gold concept of heaven, its literal-mindedness, its rambunctious good cheer ... its anti-intellectualism ... its puerile hymns ... and its faith-healing ... are made to order for King Kid America. ~ Florence King

The trauma of Down's syndrome is that it is present prenatally and can therefore undermine the early stages of bonding. The challenge of autism is that it sets in or is detected in the toddler years, and so transfigures the child to whom parents have already bonded. The shock of schizophrenia is that it manifests in late adolescence or early adulthood, and parents must accept that the child they have known and loved for more than a decade may be irrevocably lost, even as that child looks much the same as ever. ~ Andrew Solomon

And now the birds were singing overhead, and there was a soft rustling in the undergrowth, and all the sounds of the forest that showed that life was still being lived blended with the souls of the dead in a woodland requiem.
The whole forest now sang for Granny Weatherwax. ~ Terry Pratchett

Friends are the family that had other mothers. To really live a fulfilled life, hold your friends close and do the work to stay connected. ~ Tracy A. Malone

Look at the optimism of Nature. Nothing can stop it. Only the ego makes humans pessimistic, and this causes suffering. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi

Since her time in the necromancer's clutches, she was still recovering lost memories from the quicksand of her mind. They'd drop like nuclear bombs, freezing her at the worst time as visuals which should've stayed forever buried bubbled to the surface. ~ Katherine McIntyre

Time begins the healing process of wounds cut deeply by oppression. We soothe ourselves with the salve of attempted indifference, accepting the false pattern set up by the horrible restriction of Jim Crow laws. ~ Rosa Parks

Let nothing which can be treated by diet be treated by other means. ~ Maimonides

If you have ever been so upset by something that you drank yourself unconscious only to wake up some time later in an unfamiliar place with only a bad headache and a case of the spins to keep you company, then you have a small idea of the kind of trauma that Bianca experienced when she awoke in Bobcorp3. You also may have a drinking problem. ~ Brian Cramer

Nothing slips by God. Nothing catches Him off guard or takes Him by surprise, as it does us. He is always in control, always prepared and always waiting and able to meet your particular need, whatever that may be. ~ Patsy Burnette

There is healing power in believing, belief in the infinite power of Source, the infinite power of ourselves and the universe that has been created for us. Believing makes all things possible and when all things are possible, we can achieve anything. ~ Sahvanna Arienta

I suppose that I did for myself what psychoanalysts do for their patients. I expressed some very long felt and deeply felt emotion. And in expressing it I explained it and then laid it to rest. ~ Virginia Woolf

When you deny and block the Truth in your heart, when you don't express your love and don't live who you truly are, fear invades the mind and pain invades the body. ~ Dragos Bratasanu

This is your story and you get to decide how it's written. ~ Rebekah Elizabeth Gamble