Quote:
Originally Posted by comrademoomoo
It depends what you mean by adding to your trauma. If you are talking about abandonment or re-traumatising acts, then I agree. However, experiencing a painful aspect of the therapeutic relationship (with the opportunity to process) is not traumatic - that's adult life, albeit complex and unpleasant.
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I agree that not everything painful is traumatic. I also disagree that anyone can define traumatic for someone else.
I don't know that my experience in this situation is traumatic. Maybe to a degree? Maybe at the start. But also not based upon my reaction to everything. Sure I've cried and yelled, I'm experiencing grief, depression and anger. But I'm not in any danger of hurting myself or needing hospitalization. Again, at the beginning I was, but not now. I'm learning, rather slowly, how to go about my week without L. Maybe that's progress? Or inevitable growth?
But just because it might not be traumatic to me or you, doesn't mean it's not traumatic for someone else. Look at PTSD and war. Not all soldiers come back with PTSD. There are so many examples of how the same situation results in different outcomes for different people.