Healing as One: What is Collective Trauma and How Do We Heal from it?

There are different circumstances that can be traumatic for different people. The anxiety of worrying about our loved ones far away from us during a pandemic is one of these circumstances. Surviving extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes and storms, as well as acts of nature such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, are also situations that can pose trauma to individuals. Trauma can affect anyone and everyone.

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In the case of the latter, keep reading to know more about collective trauma and how we can heal from it.

Collective Trauma

Collective trauma is psychological distress experienced by a group of people or a community due to a certain situation that triggered a collective sentiment. Collective trauma can result in a shift in the norms of a society. For instance, the global pandemic that continues to spread through social interaction can force people to distance themselves socially to circumvent the contagion. While collective trauma needs to be addressed accordingly, it helps that people find immediate support.

Ways to Cope

Meditation

One of the first lines of defense to be able to cope and deal with traumatic experiences is to find your center by engaging in meditation. Practice breathing patterns that can instantly clear your mind and calm your emotions. Get in touch with your spirituality as Matt from mattbeech.com suggests in order to receive messages from your inner voice. This will improve your overall sense of well-being in an uncertain environment. Practice meditation regularly to be able to heal from collective trauma fully.

True Engagement

Healing from collective trauma can be through true engagement in the community. Since everyone experiences, distress caused by a common situation, search for opportunities to extend a helping hand. Being able to reach out and help others in need is another way to deal with the impact of collective trauma. Be proactive, take responsibility and have the initiative to participate in the community measures to inhibit the situation from causing further damage and trauma.

Relational Therapy

Finally, there is also the option of healing from a collective trauma through relational therapy. While this can be an intimidating process, it can be an effective process to help you cope. Through relational therapy, you will work with a trusting and supportive therapist who will abolish your fears of being misunderstood. The entire process will explore your emotional and behavioral disturbances, taking into account the nature of your relationships, experiences, as well as the entire social set up. As you honor what happened in the past through the help of a reliable professional, you will be able to move forward to the future.

Healing from trauma is never easy and often, it takes a long and difficult process before you can move forward completely. To cope with collective trauma, we can engage in relational therapy or venture out into a more compassionate approach. But it all boils down to what we feel deep within, which is why true engagement and finding our center is the key to accept the past, find closure, and eventually move on.