Trauma

Trauma is a very loaded word that can be fluid depending on who you talk to and your cultural

background. I have found that as a black woman, I have experienced many traumas in a way

that I may not have considered it has been a trauma. Being a victim of home, community, and

church trauma has shaped who I am in a good way, a wrong way, or indifferent. Life has a way

of throwing curveballs that are consistent with past trauma. The first thing is the ability to

recognize that many things I am going through are a direct result of my trauma. I have an ACES

score of 6, meaning I have had seven significant traumatizing events before I was under 18.

Many individuals would not be able to come back from that, but because of the mentorship and

other influential people in my life it has offered me grace and growth.

We have all experienced trauma in our lives, whether it's vicarious trauma or trauma you have

shared. We must acknowledge it, and sometimes that is the hard part. I believe that I am a

strong person, but I am also broken. I have been mishandled multiple times; however, you do

not allow your trauma to define you. I have learned to be present when triggered, acknowledge

that I am started, and utilized my coping skills of what I need to do to persevere. What steps can you take to acknowledge your trauma and develop an identity outside of it to walk the road of healing?