WHAT TRAUMA?

Childhood trauma can shape our choices and hold us back. Learn how to break free from limiting beliefs and reclaim your authentic, powerful self.

 Evelyn G. is a world-class singer and performer. She has won many of the honors that her profession offers and has gotten to the point in her career that job offers come to her unbidden. By every standard, she is a success and at the top of her profession. It makes no sense that the following is taking place: Standing in front of her siblings, surrounded by her parents and her loved ones, she is terrified, literally shaking, at the idea of performing “Happy Birthday” in front of her family. There is an anxiety within her equivalent to the adrenaline levels of a soldier in combat. Clearly there is more here than meets the eye.

Ever wonder why you experience the feelings you feel and make the choices that you do? Why do you hide rather than shine? Why do you back away instead of grabbing life by the throat and taking your share? You know that you are so much more, that you deserve so much more, and that, given half a chance, you would create so much more. You’ve been sitting on the sidelines, watching this wonderful and exciting game called ‘life’, knowing that there is a vibrant, powerful spirit within you, waiting to dive in, and yet, you do nothing. Even if you manage to achieve at the height of your profession like our heroine, Evelyn G. you still have the experience of being a failure and a loser. 

Childhood trauma has taught you that it is too dangerous out there. You have been shaped in a way that you try your best to keep yourself out of harm’s way and you just don’t take the chances. It is time to break free of the barriers created by childhood trauma, to dispel the limiting beliefs that keep you feeling like a failure, or that keep you on the sidelines and out of the game. 

There is no substitute for identifying childhood trauma. We can pivot and twist and turn to get out of harm’s way, but we cannot escape those devastating feelings of failure, loss and being found out as a fraud. And yet, it is a slippery slope to navigate that terrain; how much is real, and how much imagined? We have retold our tales of pain so often that it can change shape and dimensions even as we try to wrestle down the demons. 

Our work lately has been focused on the importance and the impact of childhood trauma, and I must recommend that if you are entering that hell realm, at least bring a tour guide. These feelings are hard-wired in for survival, and they will not willingly lift up and off of you. Having said that, we do have the tools to find the way through. The Paradox Process was made for the journey.  There is nothing more gratifying than feeling the freedom and release when you escape the grips of your old, limiting belief system. You begin to acknowledge who you really are, and that is a revelation! We are so powerful, so excited, so optimistic, and unstoppable that it is worth everything that the journey costs, in time and effort and even terror. 

Come back to your birthright. I promise it is ready and waiting for you. 

EXAMPLES OF CHILDHOOD TRAUMA:

• Psychological, physical, or sexual abuse.
• Community or school violence.
• Witnessing or experiencing domestic violence.
• National disasters or terrorism.
• sexual exploitation.
• Sudden or violent loss of a loved one.
• Refugee or war experiences.
• Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.
• Emotional and physical neglect.
• Living with a family member with mental health or substance use disorders.
• Sudden separation from a loved one.
• Poverty.
• Racism and discrimination.
• Violence in the community.
• Witnessing sexual violence or manipulation
• Divorce
• Neglect
• Substance abuse

TRIGGERS BASED ON CHILDHOOD TRAUMA:

• holiday or anniversary of the trauma or loss.
• certain sounds, sights, smells, or tastes related to the trauma.
• loud voices or yelling.
• loud noises.
• arguments.
• being ridiculed or judged.
• being alone.
• getting rejected.
• Being excluded
• betrayal
• unjust treatment
• challenged beliefs
• helplessness or loss of control
• being ignored
• disapproval or criticism
• feeling unwanted or unneeded
• feeling smothered or too needed
• insecurity
• loss of independence
• Being controlled
• Being taken advantage of
• Being misunderstood
• Being disrespected
• Broken relationships
• Being diminished 

If any of these are triggers for you (and you’re not human if none of them speak to you) you have work to do. Do the work and reclaim your authenticity.