What a Trauma Therapist Learns from Their Clients

Perseverance

Many of our clients come to us after years of trying talk therapy. Upon hearing that we do things a little differently here, they decide to try again with a new approach. That act alone is amazing-- that they can hold out enough hope to try a new thing. They keep sticking with it and find that there are practical ways we can assist their brain in healing itself. But they can't just come to a few sessions and experience the full benefit. They have to apply themselves, keep coming week after week, and keep hammering away at the blockages in their lives. The work required in the healing process is immense. The most successful of our clients are those that know they can't just expect to work hard for an hour a week and all will be well. They go home and apply things every single day. They commit to a new way of life. Nothing changes if nothing changes. This perseverance inspires me to keep applying the same healing principles in my own life, and not to slack off and expect my own therapist to do all the work for me, because it just doesn't work that way.

Creativity

In working with trauma, there tends to be a lot of imagination and imagery used, to bring in different resources to the client's inner experience. This has allowed me to see inside the imaginative world of clients like no other. Clients have allowed me to understand intimate moments between them and their younger selves or what it feels like for them to be at their most peaceful. I've seen monsters, healing figures, perfect imaginary worlds of fulfillment, and sacred boxes containing their most wounded selves. The innate wise self in each of my clients takes on such different forms but is uniquely creative and knows just what they need. It's a bit like reading a great novel, where the author has created a beautiful and complex world of creatures and characters. I get to visit these worlds, where my own mind is exposed to new ideas and is invited to grow.

Courage

Nothing inspires me to keep courage in my own life and healing process quite like my clients. The things we look at to reprocess in therapy are often dark and difficult, but they have seen what the other side can be like--being free from their past experiences and set free to enjoy what Is, now. So they dig deep and walk forward with me into the darkness. While there may be tears in that darkness, the darkness starts to let up, and they walk out into a clearing with lots of light. It's a terribly beautiful thing to witness, but what amazes me most is their grit to go there in the first place. It's not easy, but it is good.

Keep going. I'm here for it.

Written by: Mary Beth Stevens, M.Ed, LPC, BCN