009 | Know There Is Life After Trauma
I remember hearing a sound. It was my dog’s breath after playing. And when the sound of my dog’s breathing reminded me of my abuser, I immediately felt sick. I had already been deep in my work; still, the sound set off my hypervigilance. It would be like this in many moments of my life: it could be the color of somebody’s eyes, a pair of glasses, or an older person, and my hypervigilance would trigger. Using the resources I had, I worked my way through those moments. Then, life went on.
Perhaps that happens to you, too. You’re full of self-judgment, of rage, of fear. As if that’s not enough, in sleepless nights you suffer images, scents, and sounds playing in an endless loop. The trauma is the worst you’ve experienced in your life, but every day you spend after is no less terrible. Still, you work through it, and you live on.
And on the other side of all this is freedom.
In this episode, I reveal the fourth rule of the Trauma Hiders Club: knowing that there’s life after trauma. I explain how trauma can continue to show up through our lives, even when we least expect it. I also share a moment in my life where my hypervigilance was triggered, despite having worked with therapy, and underscore the value of work in taking ourselves to freedom.
“Like all trauma, the only way out is through, and the only way through is work, and on the other side is freedom.”
- Karen Goldfinger Baker
This week on the Trauma Hiders Club Podcast:
The fourth rule of the Trauma Hiders Club
Setting off my hypervigilance, even after getting deep into trauma therapy
Choosing to work through moments of hypervigilance
What ‘EMDR’ means
The road from trauma to freedom