Treating PTSD: You Need to C-0-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-E

There’s the tendency in PTSD to shut down — mentally, physically, emotionally, linguistically. Totally understandable, but not a great idea. No one can help if you don’t offer some form of communication — about your mental, physical and emotional state.

Case in point: I have a client I really enjoy working with. She’s very bright, very dedicated and really committed to healing. The only thing she isn’t committed to is thinking things through for herself. She’d prefer that I excavate, find, and polish the answers to every question. Unfortunately, while I’d like to do anything to help her, this is not something I can do.

Your healing must come from YOU. The strongest progress is made when YOU decide what you think, know, feel, want, wish for, desire and dream of. When someone intent on helping you feel better asks a question… “I don’t know” is not an acceptable answer. You have to do better than that. “I don’t know” may be your first impulse, but then you have to take the time to figure out the answer.  The part of you struggling to heal deserves the time it takes to dig deep and pull out some concrete thought.

Recovering from PTSD means being specific. It means taking a look, seeing what needs to be seen, finding the words for it, and then — making choices and decisions about what to do with and about it. No one can or should be doing that for you.

Today’s BTG Big Question: Are you doing whatever it takes to communicate?

Be honest now: are you sitting in a group or therapy session or across from a friend trying to support your healing effort and relying on them, him or her to do the work? When someone asks you a question do you automatically tune out, lie down and hope the answer will just magically spring into the air?

Doing whatever it takes to heal means doing the heavy lifting. Means doing the stuff you don’t want to do. Means making the effort to find the words, make the sentences, chase the thoughts that lead you (and the people trying to help you) closer to making meaningful hookups, discoveries and associations.

Toughen up, survivors. Grit your teeth. Buckle down and move the words and thoughts around until you are able to express what needs to be expressed. You have to own your recovery; communicating is part of earning that.

It was difficult for me to find the words in my own healing process. One thing that helped was writing things out; mulling them over on the page first helped me find clarity that allowed me to later express ideas. What has helped you find new and effective ways to communicate?

(Photo: zik “Tay”)

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Tags: Doing Whatever It Takes To Heal, healing, ptsd, recovery