Trauma Narrative in Therapy

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Have you ever done one?

I keep on getting out of it. My therapist mentioned that we may both be practicing avoidance, but since then, we’ve continued to avoid it, and I’ve talked mostly about difficult things that I don’t mind talking about as much.

Anyway, have you found writing a trauma narrative helpful?

The entire idea of it stresses me out. I have trouble talking about those sorts of things to people in person. Or sometimes it takes the entire session for me to get comfortable enough and then it’s time to leave.

Maybe online therapy would be more beneficial for me. I like my therapist and she has helped me a lot, but I feel like I’m hitting a bit of a wall.

I like the idea of in-person therapy much better than online therapy.

Writing a trauma narrative can be cathartic....but one should be aware of the intense feelings which can result.

I did advocate “using caution.”

“Only when you’re ready” is my motto.

Trauma is a product of stress. Stress accumulates within the body and eventually can transform into distress. Stress is a physical entity, it is chemical, it is the cascade of hormones that are released when we experience a physical or psychological threat. It is stored energy left in our core or our limbs. One form of distress is trauma.

I suspect that in NTs, one major stressor may be sufficient to produce trauma. Such as the death of a close family member.
But in the world of individuals on the Autistic Spectrum (AS) it is the sum of many, many little stressors. The oversensitivity of a sharp noise combined the itchy feeling from the clothes we are wearing, combined to the rough texture of the food we are eating adds together with a thousand other small things combined together to place us in a state of trauma.

So although developing a trauma narrative may be useful when one is trying to treat mental problems in the world of NTs, it may be totally meaningless for those on the AS.

The intake clinician asked me if you had any trauma

So I asked "what is the definition of trauma?"

She told me "something bad that happened that still affects you"

Way too broad

Everything is:. Good, bad, both, or neither (two out of four are bad)

Everything:. Does or does not affect you (one out of two are bad)

In 36 years, a lot of things happen

Making a mountain out of a molehill

"Much Ado about nothing"

Anyone could correctly label anything as bad

You can't measure the quality of something

If I get hit by a car, that is bad for me. It is good for everyone that competes with me for resources or, ain't too f*****g find of me. It is neither for everyone else



s**t

^^

No, I’m talking about serious trauma. There’s no molehills involved whatsoever although it’s true that everyone is impacted by experiences differently.

I had a horrible therapist that gave me the Courage to Heal workbook as my homework. I didn't find writing down my traumatic experiences helpful; in fact, it had the opposite effect. I was left alone to ruminate with a past I've tried my best to move on from and no coping mechanisms. It got bad enough that I got deep into looking for patterns which I do when I get really stressed. I found a much better therapist who I work with, and an ancillary NP that gave me an official diagnosis and helps translate Aspie speak to her when things get lost in translation.

If you have a strong therapeutic alliance, it may work out for you. If you are questioning it, share your concerns with your Therapist. There are other Trauma based strategies you can look at. EMDR, Hypnotherapy, exposure therapy, and Ketamine are all worth looking into, and there are trials going on with DMT and Flexxoral that are having promisong results.

Give it a try. It couldn't help. I gave Better help a try and was disappointed by the matching. I found online gives you the opportunity to be less than honest or avoidant because there is no one in front of you, and it could prevent you from coming to those in-person realizations.

Did you watch the HBO Watchmen sequel? It ended up being an entire show about trauma and how it molds people. I really appreciated it.

Good luck with whatever route you decide on, the only recommendation I can make is make sure you have a mental health emergency kit for self care in case things get rough, and a good person to rant to as well.