“Trauma shatters our most basic assumptions about ourselves, other people and the world: ‘Life is good; I can trust other people; my partner cares about me; I do not need to fear.’ These are replaced by thoughts and feelings like: ‘There is no-one who is safe; it is stupid to trust others; I need to take care of myself for the world is dangerous.”

Healing from trauma is a long, laborious process. It takes much longer than we want it to take. And if you’re on this journey, then I hope the points below will be a help and comfort as you navigate your way.

1. Accept all your emotions. Emotions simply are. Do not judge them as being right or wrong.

2. Expect to experience intense emotions. Expect to experience turbulent emotions. Expect to experience unwanted emotions.

3. Expect everything in life to feel chaotic. And even…