Taking Good Care of Ourselves

This Valentine's Day, let's consider a key ingredient to our healing from trauma: taking good care of ourselves. All types of trauma- from being bullied to surviving a sexual assault- are devastating and require our self-compassion to sustain and nourish our healing process. Do you feel that you have been impacted by trauma? If you do, how does this impact your choices in taking care of yourself?

Taking good care of ourselves in the context of healing from trauma means:

• Valuing yourself and your right to be safe, happy, and healthy.
• Learning to ground yourself and use safe coping skills in times of stress.
• Knowing who you can call on and reaching out when you need support.
• Making time to attend to your wellness through diet, sleep, and exercise.
• Allowing yourself to play, have fun, and pursue pleasurable activities.
• Taking reasonable measures to ensure your safety, such as having safe sex.

What common thread do you see running through these items? Taking good care of yourself is all about safety. We didn't feel safe when the trauma happened, but we can take steps to experience safety, now. In fact, we cannot heal without feeling safe. Taking good care of ourselves is a direct antidote for the disrespect and re-victimization that can result from trauma. The truth is, we deserve to feel safe.

On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being not safe at all and 10 being as safe as you can imagine, how safe do you feel, now? How safe would you like to feel? What keeps your number from moving up or down the scale? How could taking good care of yourself change your number? Do you feel you're worth it?

This Valentine's Day, I am wishing you the heartfelt knowledge that you deserve your own love and affection...

For more in-depth information about the symptoms of trauma and types of treatment available today, check out my latest article, "Is Trauma Treatment Right for Me?" at The Banyan Tree Center.