Exploring common myths we’ve believed to be true about healing trauma effects.
Originally confined to physical injuries, the concept of “trauma” expanded as psychology advanced. Mental health professionals recognized that distressing events could inflict profound emotional wounds and operational injuries beyond just catastrophic situations like disasters and violence. It became clear that any experience threatening one’s stability, not just extreme cases, could cause deep psychological and physiological harm—reactions previously misunderstood as personal weakness instead of natural responses to threat. This paradigm shift destigmatized trauma’s effects and helped us understand better what it takes to help people heal.
An Expansion of Nature vs. Nurture Model
One of those new ways to help people heal could be found in the expansion of previous models. Mental health has long been viewed through the lens of nature versus nurture. That model doesn’t fully explain the variations in how people experience challenges (think fraternal twins or siblings raised in the same environment). But we are reaching the moment when the mind can be included in the formula: nature-nurture-consciousness.
Neuroscientist and fellow PT contributor Joseph LeDoux’s latest book, The Four Realms of Existence, is an indication of this shift. Here’s why: Our mental health issues are mainly due to the disconnection between our physiology (our body, brain, and biological systems) and our mind. Yes, we have to acknowledge how circumstances affect us, but in this radical shift, we must also include the role that our own mind plays in the severity of an experience as well as its aftermath. Our mind and brain interact and influence each other in profound ways, impacting how we interpret events, perceive the world, and react to challenges. This dynamic relationship also affects our capacity to heal (or not) from trauma. We could use our mind to instruct the brain on how to act, and not live at the mercy of the decisions of our primitive circuits.
So, let’s explore some of the common myths we may have mistakenly believed to be true about healing trauma effects.
Myth #1: Trauma can be overcome simply by willpower and moving on. There is a dichotomy related to trauma severity. While many assume trauma is irreparable, others believe that trauma is something individuals can simply “get over” with time or willpower alone. While some studies show that PTSD symptoms may decrease on their own within a few months, this doesn’t mean we can ignore them or that the few symptoms that remain after traumatic events are insignificant. For full recovery after traumatic exposure, there’s nothing better than seeking professional support. This allows you to invest time and effort in regaining the confidence the traumatic experience may have shaken. This understanding is essential because those who neglect their mental health and continue feeling unsafe can see new symptoms arise, previous ones worsen, and a full-blown trauma disorder could develop.
Myth #2: Healing from trauma requires remembering the traumatic events in detail. It’s a misconception that vividly recalling and recounting traumatic events is necessary for healing. While processing traumatic memories can be beneficial for some, it’s not the only approach, or always the most effective. There are several reasons:
- The brain may prioritize safety during trauma, obstructing the recording of details deemed irrelevant for survival. It’s impossible to remember what it’s not recorded.
- Stored memories can change over time, and the brain may compartmentalize them as a protective mechanism during high stress. Removing these protections before the individual has developed the capacity to regulate and tolerate associated emotions may not be helpful.
My approach to trauma resolution focuses on helping individuals develop internal resources, regain a sense of safety, maintain a safe environment, build external support, and optimize overall functioning. Once these elements are in place, traumatic memories can be processed efficiently, potentially without detailed descriptions. Traumatization is an ongoing process affecting health until a sense of safety is regained, and reconsolidating traumatic memories alone may not be sufficient.
Myth #3: EMDR is the treatment that heals all trauma. While EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) has gained popularity among celebrities and can effectively address and process unmetabolized traumatic memories, it is not a universal panacea for healing all forms of trauma symptoms. EMDR’s effectiveness can be influenced by factors such as the individual’s specific trauma history, level of dissociation, autonomic and emotional dysregulation, capacity to experience positive emotions, and personal predispositions. Since trauma affects us psychologically, emotionally, and physiologically in various ways, its resolution often requires a comprehensive, tailored approach involving multiple therapeutic modalities. This myth applies equally if replacing “EMDR” with “psychedelics,” “yoga,” or any other single method.
Myth #4: Discussing one’s trauma can be harmful and should be avoided. While there’s a fear that discussing traumatic experiences can exacerbate symptoms or retraumatize the individual, avoiding or suppressing these discussions can prolong suffering and hinder healing. Remembering vivid details could overwhelm the person and potentially cause re-traumatization. However, instead of avoidance, it’s safer to share factual accounts without excessive detail, especially after developing emotion regulation skills and tolerance for disclosure. So, instead of avoiding, hiding, or mentally reviewing the experience, it’s safe to share facts without much detail, especially after developing regulation skills and tolerance to the idea of letting someone else know what happened.
Myth #5: Trauma only heals if we heal the body. Trauma impacts far more than just our physicality. Traumatization affects us mentally, emotionally, and somatically. Healing cannot be achieved through physical treatment alone while neglecting the other elements that suffered alterations. True trauma healing requires an integrative approach, including somatic interventions together with other bottom-up and top-down approaches.
Trauma recovery is a journey with ups and downs, setbacks, and breakthroughs. This is especially true for complex trauma cases, where healing goes beyond simply erasing negative memories or learning how to cope. For complex cases, recovery involves addressing a wider range of challenges. This might include something that in my book, Traumatization and Its Aftermath, I call “trauma domains”: developing emotional regulation skills, maturing the nervous system and whatever functions development got interrupted, healing attachment issues, addressing personality or identity problems, challenging distorted perceptions and cognitive schemas, identifying and rewriting negative emotional scripts, understanding and managing dissociative tendencies, repairing or rebuilding a damaged sense of self, and more elements. It takes time, but it is possible!
References
LeDoux, J. E. (2023). The four realms of existence: a new theory of being human. Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.