How to Coach Yourself and Others Grief Coaching and Counseling | Page 21

Ten Steps to Healing From Trauma
By Martin V. Cohen, Ph.D.
Whether you have been a crime victim, involved in an accident or natural disaster, or were the victim
of childhood abuse, the resulting trauma is similar. Pervasive fear and feelings of helplessness are
natural reactions to events you probably had little or no control over. “I was totally traumatized,” and
“I thought I was going to die,” are among the most often used phrases used to describe such
occurrences. Unfortunately, trauma and the stress that follows, is on the rise at the turn of the new
millenium in America.
Fortunately, there are ways to overcome the “aftershocks” of traumatic incidents. A cluster of
symptoms consisting of
(1) Persistently REEXPERIENCING the event (e.g., flashbacks, nightmares, etc.),
(2) AVOIDANCE (e.g., avoiding people, places or activities that trigger memories of what happened)
and
(3) HYPERAROUSAL (e.g., jumpiness, feeling on edge, irritability, etc.) can be treated effectively
with the following steps toward healing this condition. In 22 years of practicing psychotherapy,
specializing in treating trauma victims, I’ve seen them work.

1.-- Recognize that your symptoms are normal reactions to abnormal circumstances.

Although you may feel like you are out of control or “going
crazy,” in reality, you are experiencing what are called posttraumatic stress symptoms.

2.-- Talk about your thoughts, feeling and
reactions to the events with people you trust.
Then, talk about it some more. Keep talking about it
until you have no need to talk about it anymore.