I’ve Had A Painful Past, What If Talking About How I Feel Just Brings Up Everything and I Don’t Feel Better?

I have always found this to be a very interesting question and a valid concern. If what you are looking for in counseling is a quick fix and you have had a lot of painful things happen to you, therapy may not make you feel better right away although learning coping skills can help a lot with coping with your emotions as you work on healing. It’s important to remember healing takes time, as anyone who has broken a bone can tell you.

Another element of this question that is important is how much healing do you want to do. Sometimes we don’t want to heal everything, just enough so we can function better, and that’s ok. I like to think of healing trauma as having three options, cleaning the table, cleaning the room, or cleaning the house. If we clean the table we are likely only concerned with present triggers, if we clean the room we might want to address the way trauma is impacting a relationship or one area of our life, but not do everything. If it’s the house, you are working on healing all the trauma.

If I could give some advice to those looking for counseling, it would be to recognize your strengths and what areas you may need to learn coping skills in prior to doing trauma work. Doing the prep work first, helps the trauma work go so much easier. It’s still hard work, but you will feel supported through the process and able to cope and work through the emotions and thoughts that come up.

I hope this helps you find the right trauma therapist for you in Crescent City or online. If you are still feeling stuck, feel free to call me at (707) 954- 7060 for a free 15 minute consultation. I’d be happy to hear about what is happening and help direct you to the right person. If you are looking for help with anxiety counseling, depression counseling, or trauma counseling, you can read more about how I help here.