From a psychobiological approach, the acceptance of the traumatic event is a mental phenomenon through which full conviction is achieved about the reality of the perceived event, its meaning and its consequences. But this does not imply compliance with it, since by definition, the traumatic event is harmful and unwanted.
Overcoming a psychological trauma involves recognizing that a specific event has destroyed the state of balance and harmony that we had, that there has been a harmful change in the perception of oneself and/or the living environment and, most likely, an alteration in relationships. that we maintained in the family, social or work environment, all of which caused a feeling of pain and suffering.
It also implies assuming that we cannot go back in time, therefore, we should not continue striving for things to be as they were before and resist the obvious and irremediable fact. If you want to know more about how to overcome psychological trauma we invite you to read the following PsychologyFor article.
To understand the definition of psychological trauma, we must understand that nature teaches us that the adaptation of any living system to changes in the environment is an essential requirement for its survival. For this adaptation to occur in a stable and harmonious way, it is essential that a state of balance be maintained in the system, as required. the thermodynamic principle:
“Open systems tend to maintain an inertial state of resistance to change, which gives them stability. In this sense, every system tends to reach the so-called steady state, which is one in which all variables remain stabilized or with fluctuations within safety margins, so that, to any external disturbance, the system will try to respond by reestablishing the steady state.”
The biological system responsible for achieving and maintaining a state of balance is homeostasis. In the area of the human brain system, psychological homeostatic mechanisms They are effective in the face of disturbing events that generate changes of little importance and we adapt to them without great effort.
What can cause psychological trauma
In the face of unexpected events that affect physical and/or psychological integrity and have dramatic consequences for the person, these homeostatic mechanisms are not as effective and cannot prevent their devastating effects. In these cases, the first defense that sets the homeostatic machinery in motion is to consider a traumatic event as something foreign to reality.
If you want to expand your knowledge on the subject, we recommend you consult our post Types of psychological trauma.
Are traumas overcome?
Yes, traumas can be overcome starting with the acceptance of the new situation. Now, it is very difficult for us to accept that we will no longer have what we had until now (health, family, friends, work, etc.), or that we will no longer have what we would like to have, which is why the first reaction to a traumatic event is to deny it. or rationalize it in order to preserve the model of the world we had.
The process of accepting a traumatic event is complex and painful for most people who suffer it; but if we consider that the event has not occurred or that it does not affect us and we do not accept reality, we will not be able to regain psychological balance and lost emotional stability (the steady state required by thermodynamics).
If there is no acceptance, there can be no adaptation that generates psychological well-being (there may be acceptance through passive resignation, but without well-being). Therefore, it can be said that the acceptance of the new life situation imposed by the traumatic event forms part of the mechanism of psychological homeostasis<
How to overcome past trauma
Below, we give you some of the principles on how to overcome psychological trauma, taking into account the different conflicts that the person faces in order to rebuild their life:
Not giving up to overcome trauma
For the person who suffers trauma, the idea of abandoning the family, professional or social world, of not being involved in the world around him (a world that has disappointed or betrayed him) is attractive and emerges with enormous force, and is complicates even more when the event has caused a guilt or a blind desire for revenge if you assign the blame to someone else.
Generate well-being to overcome trauma
On the other hand, an acceptance followed by passive adaptation to the new situation, that is, living everyday life with resignation and surrendered to frustration and suffering, can hardly be considered a true adaptation; to qualify it as such, one must work and routinely seek favor of the absence of mental disturbance and generate psychological well-being<
Have a motivation to overcome a trauma
Furthermore, to overcome psychological trauma, this work of rebuilding ourselves must be accompanied by positive motivation towards the future (for example, the hope of achieving a desired goal).
However, the most relevant aspect to keep in mind about how to overcome a trauma is that the internal cognitive contradiction that occurs in the event, it is a battle that takes place in our mind, not in the environment, which implies a fight against oneself in which the model we had of ourselves and the world (what should be ) fades away, and we are suddenly forced to replace it with a new one (whatever it is).
This internal struggle is the fundamental basis of the difficulty of acceptance, since it requires a reasoning process to understand what happened and develop a response appropriate that does not lead to maladaptive behaviors. In this sense, León Festinger (1959) points out:
“Individuals have a strong inner need that pushes them to ensure that their beliefs, attitudes, and behavior are consistent with each other.”
What is the acceptance process like to overcome a trauma?
Acceptance takes time and effort, especially considering the overexcited emotional state due to the stress of the moment that imposes limitations on the effectiveness of reasoning processes. This happens mainly because attention is focused almost exclusively on the event and its consequences, leaving aside other surrounding circumstances.
Furthermore, in this fight to overcome trauma, a factor against it is that the mind can deceive us with rationalizations, fabulations, projections, dissociations or denials to justify the position that interests us.
However, our mind has enough resources to effectively carry out the process if we know how to use them properly. As V. Ramachandran (2011) highlights:
“lThe mind generally abhors inconsistencies, and therefore, it dedicates the necessary cognitive resources to reducing or minimizing them, but only when the situation is relevant enough, that is, when it has sufficient emotional content.
Phases of the acceptance process to overcome trauma
It is evident that one does not go from the occurrence of the traumatic event to its acceptance directly and simultaneously, but rather it passes through a multi-stage process in which acceptance is the final stage that is reached when the person recognizes and assumes the reality of the new situation (a descriptive approach to these stages can be seen in the model of the five stages of change by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross).
The difficulty of the mental process of acceptance lies in its complexity and one way to undo this is to break down and analyze the process into parts. Taking into account the characteristics indicated above that define an event as traumatic, the analysis of the process can be divided into different partial acceptances:
Accept the possibility that a traumatic event may occur to us.
Accept the existence of deficiencies in our model of the world.
Accept the suffering generated.
Accept our biological nature.
If you liked this article on how to overcome psychological trauma, we encourage you to read our posts How to overcome childhood trauma and Complex trauma: what it is, symptoms, criteria and treatment.
This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to How to overcome psychological trauma we recommend that you enter our Cognitive Psychology category.
Bibliography
Bertalanffy, Ludwig (1976). General theory of the systems
Chinn, C.A.; Brewer, W. F. (1998). An empirical test of a taxonomy of responses to anomalous data in reality. Journal of Research in Science Teaching.
Kahneman, D. (2011). Think fast, pensar slowly
Kelly, G. (2001). The psychology of personal constructs
Kübler-Ross, E.; Kessler, D. (2005).About grief and sorrow
