[WePow]

Just wondering if anyone has completed the trauma healing work yet?
I am in the midst of it and ready for it to be over. I am still working, but my job performance is taking a big hit thanks to nights of flashbacks and emergancy sessions with T and my angry alter trying to escape all the time!

I just am exhausted and want it to end now. We are processing a lot and I think the large items are over. But was wanting feedback on others experiences with this stage. Also any suggestions are welcome!

[sunrise]

Originally Posted by wpowers

Just wondering if anyone has completed the trauma healing work yet?

wpowers, I am not sure the work is ever completely over, but goes in stages. Sometimes also we don't need to do all the work, but enough to let us function, have peace, be able to move on and not be stuck, etc.

I have done a lot of trauma work and a lot of healing. I have been resting for a while, getting ready to share some more difficult stuff with my T. But I feel much more functional than before, and much happier, and a lot of relief.

We did EMDR, talk therapy, and also ego state therapy. I had a rather brash, headstrong male ego state who would put in appearances at awkward times and cause trouble. We did family therapy with him. He is part of me, after all, and it's better to learn to get along than to always be at odds.

I found I needed time to process in between sessions, even though the trauma work was hard. It was helpful to have a week between sessions so I could process. The EMDR helped jar things loose, and then my brain would run with it for a week. I could completely reverse how I felt about something within 7 days. I would go through a whole progression of thoughts and emotions. So if a day or two after a session, I felt I needed to see T again (right now!!!) because of all this stuff I was experiencing, if I waited another few days, my head would be in a very different place and I would need something completely different from T. It felt like it was moving fast, and I needed to have patience with my brain's processing time, and not try to interrupt.

We are processing a lot and I think the large items are over. But was wanting feedback on others experiences with this stage. Also any suggestions are welcome!

My feedback is, it sounds like you are doing great! Such hard work. It is so worth it. How wonderful you are done with most of the big stuff. Feel free to kick back and take a break--talk about other things in therapy, if you can. Give yourself some pats on the back and some hugs. Share your triumph with your T. Gloat for a while together. You can always do the smaller things later, if you want. There is never a rule that says you can't do more work. And also no rule that says you have to do it all before taking a break.