In my family, we didn’t talk about feelings. It just wasn’t done.
We certainly didn’t talk about all the feelings that came with my Dad being a vet, and disabled.
We still didn’t talk as things got worse for him and all of us over the years. We learned to keep quiet and bury it. And frankly, it nearly killed us. We’re different now, in my family. It took a lot to get here, but we talk about things. We’re happy. We’re close. We’ve got one another’s backs. No one is walking on eggshells anymore.
Wherever you are on your journey to get to this kind of freedom, I’ve been there. I get it. I bring a unique sensitivity to my training and practice of both EMDR and TRM and I have a soft spot for all the helpers. Like you. The people who signed over their lives to the care and protection of others.
We’re a safety net, you and I. We’re part of that invisible thread that holds society together and keeps people moving, whether we do it by rushing into a burning home or skillfully helping someone who feels like their brain is on fire.
We see and hear the worst stuff every day. We’re allowed to be affected by it. We’re allowed to be supported. We’re allowed to recover from the hardest moments, so they stop coming back and coming back.