Once we have told the story of the trauma in our lives to others and others have reflected that story back to us, then it is time to make a choice. Our trauma either defines us for the duration of our life, becoming the closed box from which our actions and words stem, or the trauma becomes a stepping-stone from which we renegotiate who we are and pursue something different, even if we are not clear on what that is.
Trauma is an event (or series of events) that can only define us the way we allow it to.
It does not have the power of choice, but we do.
The question I hold for all my patients is: what part of the trauma is still serving you?
We keep habits, people, objects, etc. in our lives because we are not done exploring, seeing, and experiencing what those people, places, and things mean to us. The same is true for trauma.
So how is your trauma serving you?
Try finding what in your trauma still has significance in your life, and start asking yourself why. It’s a hard question to give an honest answer to, but by doing so you can begin to redefine your trauma so that one day it is no longer an obstacle but rather a resource and a reference to help you (and others) along the journey of life.
–Samantha Lotti
Author: Samantha Lotti
Samantha Lotti is the founder of Biodynamic Health and creator of Body Compassing. She is a certified and registered Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist (BCST, RCST®), licensed acupuncturist (L.Ac.) and board certified herbalist in Oak Park, Illinois. A personal back injury brought Samantha to biodynamic craniosacral therapy and ignited her interest in a variety of healing modalities.
