Welcome back to savvy psychologist. I'm Dr. Ellen Hendrickson and I'll help you meet life's challenges

with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment. So too often, we don't talk about the

worst things that have happened to us. It's too humiliating, we're too scared, we think we'll break down and never recover, or we think we're the only one and that no one would understand.

And that's because trauma isn't neat and tidy.

There are no nice, neat traumatic packages wrapped up with a bow.

Instead, trauma is messy and confusing.

And even if we want to talk about it,

we might not know what to say or how to say it. But to make matters worse, when

the natural healing process gets stuck, the result is PTSD, and the heart of PTSD is avoidance, turning away from anything that reminds us of the trauma, and that includes talking about it. A vicious cycle ensues.

But think about this. Trauma often occurs person to person,

assault, rape, crime, violence, atrocities of war, mass shootings, and even

traumas that aren't strictly interpersonal, like natural disasters or medical emergencies,

still unfold in a social context.

For example, how others react to your trauma can chart your course toward recovery or struggle.

So for example, gaining an initial response of blame, criticism, or denial rather than belief

and support builds a big old speed bump on the road to recovery.

But the other side of the coin is true too. Just as trauma happens person to person, much of the healing also happens person to person,

through acts as simple as talking. Of course, everyone deals with trauma differently,

and far be it for me to judge how someone copes venting complaining or ruminating for example may be necessary at times

But some ways of talking about trauma can supercharge recovery, bringing faster relief.

So even though it's hard, there are a million reasons to talk about trauma.

Whether with one heart-to-heart conversation or many ongoing discussions over time,

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