3 Big Reasons Why You Won’t Seek Help For Unresolved Trauma

Trauma is something that most people will deal with at one time or another in your life.  It can come in the form of a deeply distressing or disturbing experience.  It could also be an emotional shock following a stressful event or even a physical injury or shock.  

Trauma comes in many different forms and no two traumas will be exactly the same.  

Now when you experience a trauma and are able to process it in a healthy way, you’ll learn from it.  You’ll also recover from it and be able to move on with your life in a fairly normal and easy way.

The problems start when that trauma isn’t resolved.  Unresolved trauma stays with you.  It becomes a part of who you are and how you act.   Often it can even alter your habits and actions in life.  

When trauma goes unresolved it can also start to cause other issues like anxiety, depression, body aches or even mood changes.

No one enjoys experiencing these things!  

So, why don’t people seek help to resolve their trauma?  There are three big reasons why you will internalize your trauma and not seek help to resolve it.  

Do you recognize any of these reasons why you will continue to suffer with unresolved trauma?

1- I’m not worthy 

Often trauma is accompanied with some form of guilt.  Perhaps you have survivor’s guilt.  This happens when you’ve survived something while someone else didn’t.  If this is you, then you might wonder if you even deserve to move on from what caused your trauma.  Maybe you’re punishing yourself because you don’t feel worthy of feeling good if someone else didn’t even survive the traumatic event.

You might also be feeling guilty over not doing or saying something before, during or after the traumatic event.  If this is you, then again you might not feel like you are worthy of feeling good.  So, you suffer through the unresolved trauma.

Here’s a hint… you are worthy of allowing yourself to feel better & resolve your trauma!  No matter what has happened, you don’t have to continue to punish yourself by allowing the suffering to continue.

2- I don’t know what to expect (change is scary) 

The pain you know is often better than the future that you don’t know and can’t predict.  I know so many people who refuse to change simply because they don’t know what to expect.  

Change can be so scary!  

I get it!

Personally, I have put off difficult life decisions simply because I couldn’t quite figure out how my life would be once I put a decision into practice.  The result of putting off the change was simply to create more pain for myself.  Every single time that I’ve delayed a difficult decision, I’ve found that the other side of that decision was actually a great place to be.  I felt better.  I was happier & I enjoyed life more.  I just had to get over the hump of making that decision and taking that first step.  

When you have unresolved trauma, you know what it’s like to live with it.  You can’t even imagine how much better life can be when you’re not carrying around that trauma like a huge weight is on your back.  

You don’t know what to expect with the change.  So, you simply stay just like you are.  

3- It’s painful to get help & work through issues

I’m going to be real with you here.

Working through your trauma to resolve it takes time.  It’s not always easy to even ask for help let alone to start to deal with it.

I see this all the time with my clients.  I’ll have someone reach out to me to finally start to work on their trauma.  Then, they discover that it can be a bit uncomfortable to do the work.  

There might be tears.  There might be uncomfortable feelings.  There might be anger.  Many different emotions can emerge through this work.  

Some people will decide that the effort is just too much for them.  I find that those people will take breaks from their sessions with me.  Sometimes, they return to continue to resolve the trauma.  Sometimes they don’t.  

The pain of staying just like you are right now is familiar but the pain that could rise up from confronting your trauma can be scarier than you’re ready to feel.  

So, you just live with the pain that you already know.  All the while knowing that it’s not good for you but not feeling like you can do anything different. 

What’s the solution to all of these reasons?

The solution is to get support.  Don’t try to heal your trauma all on your own!  

Having someone there with you in this process is the support that you need in order to successfully resolve your trauma and finally move beyond it.  

Support can come in so many ways.  Maybe it’s group therapy sessions each week.  Support could be talking with a trained Mental Health Professional who has experience dealing with trauma.  It could involve art, music, theater,etc.  

There are so many wonderful approaches to dealing with trauma.  If one doesn’t seem to be helping you, then try something else.  

You don’t have to live with unresolved trauma if you’re ready to do the work to face it.

Yoga Therapy is a great option!

In my practice, I bring the body into the therapy conversation so that you can finally resolve your trauma. 

A somatic approach to trauma is different.  

Yoga therapy provides an experience to listen to and learn the language of your body through postures, breathwork, meditation and dialogue techniques while connecting what shows up in your body to what shows up in your life, leading to transformational changes.

It’s these transformational changes that help you to resolve your trauma.  

I know that there are reasons why you’ve not addressed past trauma already.  I know that this refusal to address it was a form of self-preservation.  I also know that your unresolved trauma can have harmful effects on your future life and body.  

Are you ready to make a change and resolve your trauma?  The hardest step is making that decision to change and reaching out to someone for support.  If you’re curious about yoga therapy and would like to chat about this type of therapy, then click here to schedule your free chat.

Whether it’s yoga therapy or some other form of support, I encourage you to get help. You deserve to feel better!

And remember, it’s never too late to live healthier & happier!

Becky is a Yoga Therapist & has been teaching yoga since 2006. She loves to match people with a yoga practice that helps them to feel better every day & believes that there is a yoga practice for everyone. Click here to sign up for her mailing list & get all of the important news & tips first!