03/06/2026
A System of Protection
As children we developed a survival system. A system of protection. In most cases this system is what is still governing our lives. It’s innocent and destructive at the same time. The survival system of the traumatized self is multi layered and takes a lot of energy and falseness to maintain. It’s a movement away from what’s natural.
The good part is that we survived and the difficult part is that we survived at great cost to our authenticity and aliveness. Many healing modalities deal with the symptoms and dysregulation of trauma but in order to be fully liberated from the past we must look at how the whole system is being maintained.
It’s a house of cards that is always threatening collapse while we frantically replace the cards that maintain an unreliable structure.
We don’t have to go poking around in our past to see this because it’s on full display in the present moment. Whatever is needing attention will be creating disruption in our life in the present moment. It’s not hidden. It’s holding a red flag saying, “here I am”.
The past is here in the present.
Healing trauma takes time. A lot of time. It’s a radical shift in our way of being. I always tell my clients that there isn’t an end date to this “path” because we are liberating ourselves from a false persona and why would we want an end to that. There is so much to discover about who we really are when we not encumbered by a false sense of self.
It’s baby steps at first as we start to lay a solid foundation for the traumatized self. One that can be trusted as we learn to meet the needs that weren’t met in childhood. I call this the proper conditions for a developing system. Not a survival system but a system that is built on safety; belonging; nurturance; respect; wholeness; compassion; personal agency and fluent expression.
Healing trauma is a path of awakening to our true nature and true longing for liberation.
