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“Through writing, we change our relationship to trauma, for we gain confidence in ourselves and in our ability to handle life’s difficulties. We come to feel that our lives are coherent rather than chaotic. We see ourselves as able to solve problems rather than as beset by problems. We enjoy a heightened sense of self. We become more optimistic. We recast our recovery from trauma as something we can accomplish rather than seeing our ordeal as something to be passively borne. Writing supplants our feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, and victimization about a traumatic event.”
Louise DeSalvo, Writing As A Way of Healing
Thank you for posting this….its my current struggle….this passage is so perfectly written! Still working on giving the small chaotic child a voice…
Her voice will come, Laurel. She’s just waiting to come out and feel safe.
Vygotsky would also say that in using language to process the trauma, we learn more about it.
We are absolutely learning more about the trauma through using language and words that say exactly how we feel. It can be terribly painful but in the end there is peace and joy.
Absolutely.