Category: Trauma Recovery

by Sarah Jayne Oltz, MS, NCC, CTP

The holiday season is often a time of joy, togetherness, and celebration painted with traditions and connection. However, for those navigating trauma recovery, this time of year can bring unique challenges. The emphasis on family gatherings, memories of past holidays, or societal pressure to feel a certain way can trigger difficult emotions, causing the season to feel overwhelming.

If this resonates with you or someone you care about, know that you are not alone. Here, we’ll explore why the holidays can be particularly challenging for individuals in trauma recovery and share practical strategies to support healing during this time.

Offering Trauma Therapy at the Phoenix Center in Media, PA or Online!
484-440-9416 | Support@PhoenixTraumaCenter.com

Why the Holidays Can Be Difficult for Trauma Survivors

1. Family Dynamics: For some, family gatherings can bring up unresolved tensions, remind them of past traumas, or create a sense of obligation to be in environments that feel unsafe.
   
2. Grief and Loss: The holidays often amplify feelings of grief for those mourning loved ones or the loss of a sense of “normalcy” due to trauma.
   
3. Sensory Overwhelm: Crowds, loud noises, bright lights, and bustling schedules can overwhelm the nervous system, especially for those working through trauma-related triggers.
   
4. Cultural Expectations: The societal narrative around the “perfect holiday” can create pressure to feel joyous, which may feel impossible or even alienating during the trauma recovery process.

Strategies for Navigating the Season

1. Set Boundaries with Confidence: Reflect on what feels safe and manageable and identify your limits. For example, decide in advance how much time you want to spend at a family gathering. It’s okay to decline invitations or leave events early if they become overwhelming. Practice saying, “Thank you for understanding, but I need to prioritize my well-being this year.”

• Create Your Own Traditions: If old traditions feel activating, start new ones that bring comfort and joy. Whether it’s watching a favorite movie, lighting a candle for loved ones, or volunteering, tailor the season to what nurtures you.

• Prioritize Self-Care: Build moments of stillness into your schedule. Practices like deep breathing, journaling, or grounding exercises can help regulate your nervous system during high-stress periods. Ensure you’re meeting basic needs, such as sleep, hydration, and nourishment. Engage in activities and practices that feel restorative to you.
  
• Lean on Your Support Systems: Reach out to trusted friends, therapists, or support groups to talk through challenging emotions and engage in safe connections. Prepare coping tools such as grounding objects, soothing playlists, or mindfulness apps to use when you feel triggered.

• Focus on What You Can Control: You can’t change the past or others’ behaviors, but you can decide how to respond. Choose environments and activities that feel safe and affirming to you.

It’s okay for your holiday season to look however you need it to. Your healing is valid, and your boundaries are necessary. The best gift you can give yourself this season is the grace to prioritize your well-being over external expectations. As you move through the holidays, may you find moments of peace and hope in your recovery journey. Remember, healing takes time, and every step forward is worth celebrating.

If the holiday season feels unbearable or worsens symptoms of anxiety, depression, or PTSD, consider reaching out for help. Trauma recovery is a journey, and professional support can provide invaluable tools for navigating difficult seasons like this one. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at the Phoenix Center to learn how our team of trauma therapists can help support you through the holidays and beyond.

Offering Trauma Therapy at the Phoenix Center in Media, PA or Online!
484-440-9416 | Support@PhoenixTraumaCenter.com

Free Downloadable Handout here – https://phoenixtraumacenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Post-Traumatic-Growth-Handout.pdf

Dr. Scott Giacomucci, DSW, LCSW, BCD, FAAETS, PAT

What is Post Traumatic Growth?

Post traumatic growth (PTG) is the phenomenon of growing after trauma or hardship.

This idea is depicted throughout literature, history, religion, legends, and philosophy. It is certainly not a new idea, though the term “post traumatic growth” and the study of it are new. The fact that growth often occurs as a direct result of difficulties, losses, traumas, and changes is evidenced throughout time. One might even argue that all of our personal strengths are a result of surviving and finding our way through difficulties, struggles, and hardships.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, & Post-Traumatic Growth

A traumatic experience is one that overwhelms our ability to cope and process. One event may be traumatic for one person and not traumatic for another person – it is a subjective experience. An inclusive definition of trauma includes violence, abuse, death/loss, neglect, abandonment, collective trauma, discrimination based on identity, and witnessing trauma. Post-traumatic stress (and PTSD) is characterized by avoidance, numbing, hyperarousal, hypervigilance, dissociation, reexperiencing (flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive images, etc), and negative thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. Many trauma survivors experience aspects of post-traumatic growth and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder at the same time.

About 25% of adults that experience a traumatic event will develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, because of the increased vulnerability of children, childhood trauma is even more impactful resulting in 50% of children developing PTSD symptoms after a traumatic experience. At the same time, Post-Traumatic Growth research found that over 65% of trauma survivors report some type of growth after trauma.

After surviving a traumatic event, you are significantly more likely to experience post-traumatic growth than post-traumatic stress disorder.

Five Common Areas of Post-Traumatic Growth

The literature on post traumatic growth demonstrates five distinct areas that trauma survivors identify as common domains of growth. The five domains of post traumatic growth are:

1. A new sense of opportunities after trauma

Trauma and loss shake us to our core and challenge us in ways that we might not have imagined as possible. As a result, many survivors begin to see new possibilities in life and the opening of new doors of opportunity.

2. New value in relationships

The process of coping with trauma requires relationships – friends, family, therapists, support groups, etc. As humans, we are neurobiologically wired to regulate our emotions through relationships. The experience of utilizing support after trauma increases these connections and helps us remember how important they are.

3. New sense of personal strength

Surviving trauma and asking for help to cope with its aftermath requires incredible strength. Trauma survivors demonstrate extraordinary courage, resilience, vulnerability, trust, hope, and compassion, among other strengths. When an overwhelming event forces us to utilize all the strengths we have (and often develop new ones), we are much more aware of them going forward. “If I survived that trauma, I can survive anything”

4. Greater appreciation for life

Trauma, by its nature, threatens our safety, security, and often our lives. Trauma and loss remind us how precious life is and how fragile it can be. It has the ability to help us see the big picture and reconsider our priorities in life.

5. Deepening of spiritual/religious views

Because trauma is so often experienced through relationships and involving other human beings, many trauma survivors turn to spirituality or religion for strength, hope, and inspiration. Trauma is an existential crisis that challenges us to make sense of it, often through spiritual, religious, or existential belief systems.

These five domains of post-traumatic growth are sometimes simplified further into three categories: 1) Quality of Life, 2) Perception of self, & 3) Experience of relationships and others

Examples of Post Traumatic Growth

Examples of post traumatic growth exist all around you – and in your own life story. Chances are that you have grown in some way after a difficult experience in your life. Some common examples of post traumatic growth include: valuing relationships more after death; appreciating life more after working through a hardship; helping others that are experiencing something you went through previously; positively changing your perception of yourself after getting through a difficult time; creating change and new possibilities in your life after trauma; starting your own support group; creating changes in your community after a painful experience; advocating for policy changes and social change; etc.

Examples and metaphors of post traumatic growth even exist in nature: the extraordinary pressure that creates diamonds; an irritant in an oyster creates a pearl; volcanos that create new islands; forest fires that give way to new growth; stars in the darkness; sunrise after the dark night; and even plants growing from manure and dirt!

Post-traumatic growth is also something that professionals experience as a direct result of vicarious trauma and working with trauma survivors. For more info an vicarious post-traumatic growth, visit this link – https://phoenixtraumacenter.com/vicarious-post-traumatic-growth/

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