Do You Have To Tell Your Story to Heal PTSD?

When I first started my PTSD recovery I read a slew of books and articles about how trauma recovery is supposed to happen. Many of the theories, dating all the way back to the late 1800s (check out Charcot and Janet if you want to do some research), spoke about the need to 'integrate' the trauma by being able to tell your story.

Huge road block: I couldn't tell my story. Did that mean I wouldn't be able to heal?

Using Your Voice In Recovery

Because of the theories I read, and because I didn't have the benefit of a trauma trained professional who could have told me, "No, you don't have to be able to tell your whole story! Healing can happen without graphically detailing the events," I decided that in order to get better I'd better get busy at finding a way to narrate my past. I sat down and diligently began writing out what had happened to me, from the days leading up to my trauma, through the inescapable horror, and beyond.

Almost immediately after I dove into this project my PTSD symptoms increased: more anxiety, more frequent crying, grief, nightmares and dissociation hounded me more and more. Still, I pressed on. Then, a funny thing happened: writing started to give me clarity. It helped me put the many disparate pieces of the puzzle together. I started to see myself and my trauma as they intertwined and also separately. I began to make connections and developed understandings that had eluded me. All of this gave me insights into what I needed to be free.

Once I got going I kept writing until my recovery was complete. The result became my published memoir, published earlier this year and recently announced as a finalist for the BOOKS FOR A BETTER LIFE award. What I love about this is how it proves that we can do things in recovery that help us develop as people in ways that allow us to achieve things later on in our lives after trauma.

Of course, writing my story in and of itself did not cure me of PTSD - there were many actions I took that lead me to where I am today: 100% PTSD-free. However, writing helped me reclaim control at a time I really, really needed to feel that. I chose the words. I chose how to tell the story. I chose the details.

While it isn't necessary to tell your story to heal, writing can be a great way to begin reclaiming a sense of yourself (you could write about a certain aspect of the trauma instead of the whole story if you wish). Control and choice are two things we don't feel much of in PTSD. Writing is one way you can gain it back.

Click here for more details about how to write about trauma and a writing prompt to get you started.

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