Why blog about complex trauma?

What makes a therapist begin a blog about complex trauma?

I have started this blog so-many-times over the course of several years it isn’t funny. I look back at the date this domain was purchased and think about events that have occurred between then and now. Each time I started—again, it quickly became an overwhelming burden for my soul. The truth is, each time I had all the best intentions, but I wasn’t ready.

            I carry burdens well. I sit for hours each day as a therapist helping others learn to manage their burdens. They are heavy loads, and often, I bring them home with me and pile them on top of my own. I enjoy my work, please don’t misunderstand, but it doesn’t come without a price. Trauma has a way of resurfacing when you least expect it. Trauma insists on being respected—but redemption is stronger.

            I chose On Being Brave for the title of this blog for many reasons. One, it takes a hell of a lot of courage to face the dragons of childhood trauma (or any complex trauma for that matter). So many people I have worked with have been able to find that place deep in their soul where courage lives and resurrect what they thought had died. I’ve watched them emerge from that darkness and live in the light of wholehearted healing. Their stories from the deep can become a lamp to those who are currently wandering in their trauma and feel so very lost. I hope the courageous stories shared within this blog will be the light you need on the path you walk.

            Second, when we share with one another the depths of our journey, and we shed light on it, we release shame that hides in the secrets. If we keep our stories close to our chest, we live in secret and continue to believe the lies. When we do that, those who hurt others keep power over us. If we open ourselves up, bring the secrets out into the light, it is an active way of releasing the chains of shame—we take our freedom back. We are no longer bound, and we become who we were meant to be.

 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.

And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

I am here telling my story, raising awareness and providing education because others did the same for me. I want to extend the hope that was extended to me. And I want to share with you what God has done for me and can do for you.

Philippians 1:12-14 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.