Stages of Healing 5 & 6

June is PTSD Awareness Month
Welcome back for art healing!
It’s so wonderful to feel the start of movement in our lives again from our COVID quarantine.  I find myself in a mix of relief, anxiousness and a fear of complacency. These are the days where art is very helpful in processing these conflicting emotions. Keep your creativity tools close at hand and weave them into your daily habits and routines to help maintain balance.

My previous two newsletters (now posted in my blog) covered the 1st – 5th stages of healing. The 6th and 7th stages, Redressing Trauma and Reconciling Trauma will be presented next. It is presumed you are familiar with the previous stages and concepts posted in my blog in order to build for success in your healing.
REDRESSING TRAUMA:
This stage will require frequent ‘safety’ art making, patience and taking one step at a time. The unraveling at this point can go very slow and then suddenly have surprise breakthroughs, so have your safety net established, i.e. art making, meditation, pets, nature and support systems, AND USE THEM!!!
 I would recommend a therapist (art therapist if possible) for complex and severe trauma events. Surround yourself with trusted and supportive environments and people.
Anxiety will increase as layers of healing expose the symbolism and glimpses of internal unrest. Close management and oversight to maintain balance and function is essential. Art processing work may become more difficult and result in PTSD symptoms of numbness, fogginess and resistance. Your deepest self will only unravel as far as it trusts, and requires feeling safe and strong enough to see what is there. It is very important to honor your rhythm and healing because the self knows how much it can do before it need to withdraw , recuperate and process the experience.  Assimilation from deep within is happening, so trusting your intuition and gut is essential. Even if it doesn’t feel like progress is made, on a deep subconscious level it is. Sleep is very important when doing this work because the psyche heals in that deep reparative space without having to be directed by the awake brain to make meaning of it, thus allowing the emotive piece to evolve as needed.
I used to get very spacey and nauseous at this point in my work and learned to respect this and stop. A big breakthrough usually followed and resulted in healing the layer of trauma being explored.  In my case, I finally found the part of me I had abandoned at the time of my trauma. Along with the intensity of discovering this lost component, comes much relief and emotion….give it a voice through colors, symbols and image.

RECONCILING TRAUMA
The point has arrived to recognize, validate and respect what has happened and been buried so long. Once the core of trauma is identified, its related feelings, beliefs and alterations need to be heard. Use texture, image and colors to create the voice and needs of the survivor and their losses. This stage will feel more like a coming together than a falling apart. Talk to the lost self and ask it what it feels, ask the survivor what it feels, then go to your art materials and create what you’ve learned.  I was surprised to find anger of abandonment by the lost self and feelings of resentment by the survivor self. This stage is an acceptance of what has occurred and discovery of what has been endured.  Looking directly at yourself in the mental/emotional mirror and seeing the truth of the trauma and results is essential. The pain endured requires much compassion and forgiveness. Art helps make your pain beautiful in order to view it differently and in a new light.

Most importantly, be good to yourself, you have been through a lot and it’s time to embrace that truth.  Be compassionate to your hurt, don’t let others judge your behavior and stand up for your brokenness, protect and love it…like you would for a hurt child.
Make your pain beautiful!