Healing From Trauma Essay

Trauma can be defined as an illness resulting from emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or even a natural disaster (Schwerdtfeger, 2014). After such an event has occurred being shocked and the sense of denial are typical. However, there are some people who have difficulties in moving on with their lives after a terrible event. Such individuals should seek the help of psychologists to help them find ways of managing their emotions. This essay seeks to look at how one can heal from a traumatic experience using the documentary, Haling Neen.

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The documentary features the story of Tonier Neen who faced a trauma after her mother neglected her due to her crack-addiction. The documentary is 54 minutes long and is produced by Cain and Thom Stromer that tries to inspire the lives of others through a real story. Neen is now a spokesperson for the National Center for Trauma Informed Care. Her story is very heart touching especially from the inner strength demonstrated by the woman. Neen had been hustling on the streets of Annapolis, Maryland for two decades. She had an insatiable addiction to crack which she had to desperately feed by all means possible. Many people who face a traumatic experience may end up turning to drug abuse so as to forget what happened but that is only a short experience or way to hide from what you are going through. Her life was filled with all nasty things a woman would not want to experience. She had been arrested up to 83 times because of her drug habits and having to endure rape and regular beatings. Her life had two homes, either underneath a bridge that she used to live or if not, in jail.

The experiences that Neen underwent are unimaginable and not many people would be able to heal them very well. Such experiences make one feel useless and unwanted by the society to the extent that some people result in suicide. The best thing would be to seek medical attention from specialists so that they can help you through the recovery process. In 2004, being pregnant and having been locked because of violation of parole, the breakthrough for Neen's life came. She was given the opportunity to attend programs for trauma, mental health and addiction problems. The first step to healing from trauma would be accepting and confronting the problem you are facing. Neen took this opportunity to face the haunting childhood memories that for so long she was using drugs to try and erase them. She also felt that for the first in her life she was in a safe place.

Another step would be to accept that you are a victim of a certain problem and hiding from it will do no good. Neen tried to analyze the experiences she had been facing; living in filth and hunger, sexual abuse by the men living in that area and the mental abuse she had to face from her drunken mother. She realized that she had been a victim of all these problems and had to reclaim her life back. That's when she began to heal from the trauma she had been undergoing for so long. It is not such an easy process and it requires dedication and willingness to heal and get back to your normal life. Because of the desire to live a better life, Neen was able to heal from her trauma and the drug addiction she had been facing. She was able to reclaim her life back today she walks around the country especially in prisons and hospitals giving hope to others facing similar problems. She can be described as one woman with huge strength and a high spirit with no intention of ever giving up no matter the challenges. It would be very good for trauma patients to try and embrace her story and ways of healing.

Conclusion

Trauma is one of the common problems being experienced today by many people but many of them may not know what is affecting them or others even turning to drugs. The only and best solution would be to accept and face your situation and work towards bettering it.

References

Schwerdtfeger, K. L. (2014). DEALING WITH TRAUMA USING SELF-AWARENESS AND SELF-CARE. Clinical Supervision Activities for Increasing Competence and Self-Awareness, 119.