When you are healing from a traumatic event, it can be hard to look at things from a different perspective. Yet, when you do, profound relief comes.

The healing process is multifaceted and can take time, especially if you are hiding from or ignoring your thoughts and feelings. This is the first step in reclaiming your power after trauma.

Learn how to move forward and heal with these tips!

What is Trauma?

Suffering is a difficult concept to describe, but trauma can be the result of a single event, a chain of connected events, or a collection of conditions that create long-lasting damage to a person's mental, physical, social, spiritual, or emotional health.

Yes, this is a lengthy term, but tragically, many of us have experienced one or more traumatic events as children.

The amount of personal suffering around us is alarming. But don’t worry, you don’t have to allow these events to make you feel helpless anymore. There are ways to move forward and heal!

How Self-Empowerment Can Help

Anyone that you talk to might have a different definition of what empowerment means to them. Here, we are using empowerment as a way to self-heal after trauma, where you begin to reclaim your power and take back control of your emotions.

Empowerment is about making positive choices that
will benefit you, believing in yourself, and setting goals
to strive for a better tomorrow.

At its core, empowerment is all about self-love. If you are overcoming trauma, you must learn to love yourself deeply, as this is a key part of being empowered.

When you are empowered, you will be at peace and you will feel:

Centered
Rested and alert
Tuned into your emotions
Attuned and aware of the situations around you
A sense of perspective

The road to recovery may feel like a steep mountain to climb right now, but it's okay to take baby steps.

Keep reading to learn some of these small steps that you can start taking today.

#1. Understand Your Trauma

The first step on every healing journey is to first understand your trauma. Working through it with a professional like me, Paige Cargioli, can help you understand why what’s happened to you has affected you, and how to work through these feelings.

When you understand your trauma,
you will learn that it wasn’t your fault.

The simple process of learning that everything in your life is not under your control can help you find self-empowerment and work towards healing.

Letting Go > How EPT Therapy Helps With Unresolved Trauma

#2. Practice Positive Affirmations

Many survivors of trauma have to deal with a lot of negative or destructive thoughts that often try to take over. You must overcome these unwanted beliefs and rewire your mind to think more positively if you want to feel more empowered.

You can achieve this by frequently telling yourself encouraging statements. They are made to prevent your judgmental inner voice from disturbing your thoughts. Daily affirmations should be repeated, and you should pay attention to what you are saying. You'll soon come to believe it!

Here are some positive affirmations for anyone on a healing journey:

II deserve to live a happy and loving life.
My trauma does not define me
I love myself, my flaws included
I give myself permission to heal
I am willing to forgive myself
I am kind to myself and others
I can move forward and heal

#3. Move Your Body

Exercise can help release strong emotions in a healthy way. Some great physical exercises that you can do to work through trauma include:

Kickboxing
Running
Walking
Dance cardio
Yoga

Don't force it; instead, find something that feels good to do. Finding what's right for you may take some time, but you'll know when you do because of how it makes you feel!

Note: Engaging in physical activity should be considered self-care. Don't overwork yourself or use exercise as a punishment. Use it to have fun and provide your body and mind some love!

#4. Talk it Out

When it comes to empowerment, don’t underestimate the power of talking it out. Whether you talk to a friend, family member, or therapist, speaking honestly about how you feel can loosen your trauma’s hold on you.

This is a crucial step in eradicating the shame associated with trauma, which prevents many people from experiencing true empowerment.

Find someone you are comfortable with and explain how your trauma affects you. Ask for help when you need it. You are incredibly brave for being honest and putting your feelings into words, so be proud of yourself!

Moving Forward > How to Let Go of the Past

#5 Try Something Creative

It can be quite challenging to go through the jumble of emotions in your head, which is why many trauma survivors resort to art and creativity. You can channel how you feel into something else by creating, whether you write, paint, sculpt, or sketch. By doing so, you can let go of your feelings and gain a deeper understanding of them.

Creating can help you identify how you feel,
even if you can put it into words.