Actively work to reconnect with the self that trauma disconnected from you, recognizing that early adaptations for survival can later undermine your health and lead to pathology.
Cultivate self-compassion and avoid comparing your own suffering to others, as this lack of self-compassion is a typical marker of trauma that needs healing.
Take charge of yourself and your health by recognizing aspects of your life you can change, rather than assuming illness is just misfortune or genetic bad luck.
Reconnect with your authentic self by learning to say “no” when you want to, as not being authentic and suppressing your true feelings will cost your body and mind.
Utilize healthy anger as a boundary defense to maintain your limits, understanding that suppressing it can suppress your immune system and make you prone to illness.
Cultivate awareness, as it is a necessary foundation for gaining agency, practicing acceptance, being authentic, and expressing healthy anger in your life.
Begin to undo self-limiting beliefs by identifying situations where you have difficulty saying “no,” analyzing the impact of not saying no, and uncovering the underlying belief driving this behavior.
Recognize and accept how things truly are in your life, without necessarily tolerating them, as expressing emotions related to reality can lead to better health outcomes.
Undertake emotional work, which may include therapy or rigorous self-examination, to liberate yourself from the strings of traumatic imprints and become more fully yourself.
Focus on improving significant relationships, such as marriage, by seeking truth within yourself and your partner, choosing to grow and take responsibility over being ‘right’ or a ‘victim’.
Be willing to be disillusioned about your own life and society, choosing to look at how things really are rather than believing false views of reality.
Define trauma not as the bad event itself, but as the psychological wound (e.g., feeling unworthy) that happens inside you as a result of what happened, including essential needs not being met in childhood.
Understand that your mind and body are inseparable, and emotional stress is a significant physiological factor affecting your immune system, hormonal apparatus, nervous system, and organs.
Shift your perspective to see illness and pathology as normal responses to abnormal circumstances or the environment, rather than solely individual misfortune.
Incorporate spiritual practices into your life, recognizing the importance of connecting the mental, emotional, social, physical, and spiritual quadrants for holistic health.
Consider the potential of psychedelics, used in the right setting and with proper guidance, as a tool to remove the membrane between the conscious and unconscious, allowing for powerful healing and connection to your true nature.
Advocate for incorporating shamanic medicine into Western medical frameworks, especially for chronic mental and physical health issues where Western medicine often only mitigates symptoms.
Extend compassion by seeking to understand the underlying reasons for others’ suffering, recognizing that behaviors like addiction often stem from significant trauma.
Cultivate compassion by recognizing your own shared humanity and struggles with others, acknowledging that you are capable of similar patterns despite different circumstances.
Look beyond people’s current behaviors or appearances to see their essential humanity, goodness, and inherent capacity for healing and transformation, mirroring this back to them.
Address systemic issues like inequality, racism, and false beliefs about human nature (e.g., inherently competitive) that are documented social sources of widespread illness.
Push for the integration of trauma education into medical, educational, and legal systems to foster a deeper understanding of its impact on health and behavior, leading to more compassionate and effective interventions.