Trauma Therapy – Will Things Get Worse Before They Get Better?

Fortitude Psychological Therapy
1 day ago
3 min read

'Will things get worse before they get better?’ is a very common question when someone is considering therapy for trauma. I completely understand why people ask it.

If you’ve experienced trauma, you might think avoiding and not talking about things is protecting you from pain. The idea of opening up about something that’s been buried for years can be genuinely frightening. But leaving trauma unaddressed is like carrying around a massive burden that only gets heavier and harder to manage over time.

There are lots of misconceptions about trauma, and what trauma therapy looks like. Even among therapists, there’s a sense you have to relive everything over and over again, but this isn’t always the case.

I believe these worries often prevent people from getting the help they need. In this article, I’m going to give you an honest answer to the question above and hopefully reassure you that in good trauma therapy your safety always comes first.

Is Trauma Therapy Hard Work?

Yes, trauma therapy is hard. That's my honest opinion. It takes a lot of courage to face things that are difficult.

Avoidance plays a key role in maintaining trauma and the patterns it creates, so it’s important to confront your trauma in certain ways, but it doesn’t have to be as brutal as it sounds. Good trauma therapy isn’t about breaking you open. It’s about going at your pace, building safety first, and never asking you to face more than you can manage.

Safety Comes First

Most people who have experienced trauma have experienced a lack of safety. This could be physical safety, psychological safety or a combination of the two, so developing these things together in therapy is a key part of the process.

When you’re carrying unprocessed trauma, I would argue it’s impossible to feel 100% safe. However, creating safety within the therapeutic relationship, trusting your therapist, and believing the work you’re doing can help you heal makes a significant difference.

Trauma Therapy Isn’t About Reliving Everything

Some of the work we do in trauma therapy has nothing to do with what happened in the past. I won’t ask you to recount every detail of your trauma and I don’t need you to go back and feel every bit of it again. Instead, we’ll focus on what’s happening to you in the here and now, exploring the impact past trauma is having on you in the present and the cycles and patterns it’s created.

You Won’t Have to Handle Everything Alone

Trauma therapy involves collaboration. I don’t force people to go where they don’t want to, but I will help you understand how your past is impacting the present so we can decide which things we need to approach together, and which things we can leave behind.

We won’t just talk about difficult things for the sake of it. We’ll establish a clear, agreed agenda that covers why we’re going to confront certain events, how we’re going to do this, and the ways in which we think it’s going to be helpful. Everything we do together will be underpinned by theory and structure, and I’ll never ask you to face more than you can manage.

You Deserve Support That Feels Safe Enough to Use

If you’ve been putting off getting support because you’re afraid of what it might stir up, I hear you. Your behaviour makes perfect sense.

But I want you to know it doesn’t have to be the way you imagine. Challenging is not the same as overwhelming, and difficult is not the same as being broken open or torn apart by trauma.

Yes, growth tends to live just outside the edges of comfort, but you deserve support that feels safe enough to use. This is what good trauma therapy is supposed to be.

Find Out More

If you’re struggling with any of the things described in this article and you’d like support to help you heal and recover from trauma, please get in touch. Alternatively, subscribe to The Trauma Toolbox to receive my insights and tips straight to your inbox every month. I also share lots of support via Instagram.