Understanding the Journey Through Trauma Recovery
The 7 stages of trauma healing is a framework for understanding how to address and integrate emotional wounds. Common models include a three-phase approach (Safety and Stabilisation, Remembrance and Mourning, Reconnection and Integration) and a seven-step process.
Quick Overview: The 7 Stages of Trauma Healing
- Awareness – Recognising that trauma has impacted your life
- Acknowledgement – Validating your experience and its effects
- Acceptance – Coming to terms with what occurred
- Feeling the Pain – Allowing difficult emotions to surface safely
- Grieving – Mourning what was lost due to trauma
- Forgiveness – Releasing resentment and reclaiming power
- Moving Forward – Creating a new narrative and future
Trauma is an emotional response to a distressing event that can leave you feeling powerless and overwhelmed. Around 75% of people experience trauma, and many struggle to move past the pain.
Trauma’s effects are not just emotional. They can manifest physically as chronic pain, fatigue, and digestive issues, disrupting sleep, relationships, and daily life. For many with addiction, unresolved trauma is a core issue, driving patterns of self-medication.
Trauma recovery is not linear; you might revisit stages or progress at your own pace. This is normal. Healing is possible with the right support and evidence-informed approaches.
Understanding these stages provides a roadmap for your journey. It clarifies where you are and what lies ahead, reducing confusion and offering hope that recovery is achievable.
The Foundational Framework: Three Phases of Trauma Recovery
Before diving into the 7 stages of trauma healing, it helps to understand Dr. Judith Herman’s three-phase model, a foundational framework for recovery. This model is flexible; your journey will not be linear, and moving between phases is normal.
The three phases, Safety and Stabilisation, Remembrance and Mourning, and Reconnection and Integration, build on each other to create a foundation for healing. For a deeper understanding of therapeutic approaches that support this framework, you can find more info about Trauma-Informed Therapy.
Phase 1: Establishing Safety and Stabilisation
This phase focuses on establishing internal and external safety. The goal is to improve daily quality of life by calming the nervous system and feeling secure.
Learning self-soothing techniques and emotion regulation skills is crucial. These skills help manage distressing emotions without you feeling overwhelmed, providing tools to handle anxiety, anger, and sadness.
A strong support network of friends, family, or therapists is also vital. Prioritising self-care routines like regular sleep, nutrition, and gentle movement helps stabilise daily life. Find more info about Healthy Coping Mechanisms that can support you during this time.
Phase 2: Remembrance and Mourning
With safety established, this phase involves processing traumatic memories to make sense of the past. You learn to put words and emotions to your experiences without being re-traumatised, often aligning with the middle stages of the 7-stage model.
A key part is grieving losses from the trauma, such as innocence, trust, or safety. This necessary mourning process involves acknowledging pain so it can be processed and integrated.
This can include grieving altered relationships. Unresolved grief is linked to other challenges, and we offer more info about Addiction and Grief to help. The goal is to feel and acknowledge the pain in a safe environment.
Phase 3: Reconnection and Integration
This phase is about creating a new future and redefining your identity. You integrate the trauma into your life story as part of your journey, not its defining feature. It is a time for building healthy relationships, finding new meaning, and experiencing post-traumatic growth.
Post-traumatic growth refers to positive changes resulting from overcoming trauma, such as increased resilience, purpose, and deeper relationships. It does not minimise the event but acknowledges the strength gained through healing.
This phase is about moving forward with confidence by setting goals, pursuing interests, and reconnecting with yourself. For insights on sustained healing, explore more info about Long-Term Addiction Recovery.
The 7 Stages of Trauma Healing: A Step-by-Step Guide
John Bradshaw’s 7 stages of trauma healing offers a detailed guide that complements Herman’s three-phase model. It outlines specific actions for the recovery journey.
These stages are not rigid. Healing is personal, and you may move between stages or revisit them. Progress, not perfection, is the goal.
Stage 1 & 2: Awareness and Acknowledgement
The first steps are awareness and acknowledgement. This involves recognising the trauma’s impact and connecting current symptoms to past events.
Awareness can be gradual, showing up as relationship patterns, disproportionate reactions, or unexplained physical symptoms. These are signals that something deeper needs attention. Acknowledgement means validating your experience and pain without minimising it.
Stage 3 & 4: Acceptance and Feeling the Pain
Next is acceptance, which means acknowledging the reality of what happened and its impact. It does not mean condoning the event.
Acceptance allows you to begin feeling the pain. Instead of avoiding difficult emotions, this stage involves letting them surface. A safe, supportive environment is essential. Professional guidance from a trauma-informed therapist helps you process emotions like anger and fear without being overwhelmed.
Stage 5: Grieving the Losses
This stage is about mourning losses caused by trauma, which can include innocence, trust, safety, or a future you envisioned. Understanding the Kübler-Ross model of grief can help normalise your experience. Its five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
These stages are not linear; you may move between them or revisit them. This is a normal part of healing. For more support, explore More info about Addiction and Grief.
Stage 6 & 7: Forgiveness and Moving Forward
The final stages are forgiveness and moving forward. Forgiveness here means releasing resentment and anger. It involves forgiving yourself for perceived failings and for how you coped to survive.
Forgiveness may also extend to others, not to condone their actions, but to release resentment’s hold on you. This reclaims your power and prevents past pain from defining your future.
This leads to moving forward: building a future, setting goals, and creating a new life narrative defined by resilience and growth, not trauma. This is where post-traumatic growth emerges, leading to positive changes like deeper relationships and increased personal strength.
How Trauma is Stored and Released from the Body
Emotional trauma has profound physical effects. It becomes embedded in the body, a concept known as “the body keeps the score”. Research confirms a strong link between psychological distress and physical symptoms, showing that patients with chronic pain often have a history of trauma.
After trauma, the body’s stress response system can become dysregulated, leaving the nervous system on high alert. This chronic activation can cause muscle tension, fatigue, and digestive issues, and may contribute to chronic health conditions. Releasing this trapped emotional pain is a crucial part of the 7 stages of trauma healing.
Techniques for Releasing Stored Trauma
Various techniques can help release stored trauma from the body, promoting mental and physical well-being.
- Mindfulness and Meditation: These practices help you stay present and calm your nervous system. By focusing on breath and body sensations, you can observe and release tension, developing awareness of where trauma is held. Regular practice can reduce PTSD symptoms. For more guidance, explore More info about Mindfulness for Addiction Recovery Tips.
- Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT): Also known as tapping, EFT is an evidence-based tool for stress relief. It involves gently tapping on acupressure points while focusing on a distressing emotion to help process feelings of fear and anger. A trained practitioner guides you safely through this process, helping to release emotional trauma without you reliving it. Learn more through More info about Emotional Freedom Technique.
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): CBT is a talking therapy based on the interplay between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It teaches better coping strategies to relieve symptoms by changing unhelpful thinking patterns and learned behaviours. A therapist and client work collaboratively to create a custom treatment strategy.
- Journaling: This is a powerful tool for processing experiences and gaining insight. Writing helps externalise emotions, making them easier to understand. It offers a private space to explore feelings and track your progress through the 7 stages of trauma healing.
Distinguishing Trauma Healing from Trauma Bonding
It is vital to distinguish between trauma healing and trauma bonding. Though both are rooted in emotional pain, they are different processes with unique recovery paths.
Trauma bonding is an unhealthy attachment that forms in abusive relationships. It is not love, but a result of manipulation and control designed to create dependency. The bond is strengthened by intermittent reinforcement, where the abuser alternates between kindness and abuse. This unpredictable cycle creates an addictive pull, leaving the victim confused and trapped.
This contrasts with trauma healing, which is about healthy recovery and empowerment. Healing leads to freedom, while trauma bonding keeps you trapped in a harmful dynamic.
The 7 Stages of Trauma Bonding
Trauma bonding often progresses through seven stages, deepening the dependency.
- Love Bombing: The abuser overwhelms you with affection, creating an illusion of a perfect relationship that sets an emotional hook.
- Trust and Dependency Building: The abuser mixes affection with withdrawal, making you dependent on their approval for stability.
- Criticism and Degradation: Criticism, often disguised as jokes or concern, is introduced to erode your self-esteem.
- Gaslighting and Confusion: The abuser denies their behaviour and twists facts, causing you to doubt your own perceptions.
- Loss of Self: You become disconnected from your own feelings and identity.
- Resignation and Acceptance: Exhaustion leads to resignation, and you may accept the toxic dynamic as normal.
- Dissonance and Potential Awakening: An internal conflict between the abuse and your feelings can spark an awakening and the desire to break free.
Breaking free requires courage, self-compassion, and professional support. A therapist who understands trauma bonding can provide the guidance needed to rebuild your self-worth and find genuine freedom.
Ready for Change? Let’s Build a Stronger, Trauma-Informed Future Together
Beginning the journey through the 7 stages of trauma healing takes courage. It is a commitment to growth, change, and reclaiming your sense of self, not just making pain disappear.
This path is not straightforward. Revisiting stages or spending more time in certain phases is a normal and natural part of the healing process, not a sign of failure.
Signs of progress include increased self-awareness of your triggers, improved emotional regulation, better physical health, and building healthier relationships. Most importantly, you may find a renewed sense of purpose and hope.
Healing time varies depending on the trauma’s severity, your support systems, and your resilience. Complex trauma often takes longer to heal than a single event, but healing is always possible.
At The Freedom Room, our team offers compassionate, professional support through each stage. Combining professional expertise with lived experience in recovery, we provide authentic empathy and evidence-informed guidance. We are committed to helping you build a stronger, trauma-informed future, no matter where you are in your journey.
We encourage you to explore More info about our trauma-informed addiction guide to learn more about how we can support your path to lasting well-being. Your journey towards healing and recovery is worth every step, and you do not have to walk it alone.
Frequently Asked Questions about the 7 Stages of Trauma Healing
How long does it take to go through the 7 stages of trauma healing?
There is no set timeline for healing. Your journey is unique, shaped by the trauma’s nature, your support system, and your personal resilience. Some stages may pass quickly, while others take months or years. Complex trauma often requires more time, which is a reality of deep healing, not a sign of failure.
Healing is not linear; revisiting stages is a normal part of the process as new layers emerge. Progress is about lasting change, not speed. What matters is moving forward with patience and self-compassion.
What are the signs I am progressing in my healing journey?
Progress through the 7 stages of trauma healing involves subtle but significant shifts. It is helpful to reflect on how far you have come over time. Key signs include:
- Increased self-awareness: Recognising your emotional responses, triggers, and patterns.
- Improved emotional regulation: Managing distressing feelings without being overwhelmed.
- Better physical health: A reduction in stress-related symptoms like chronic pain or fatigue.
- Healthier relationships: Setting clear boundaries and choosing supportive connections.
- Greater resilience: A renewed sense of purpose and hope for the future.
Can I heal from trauma on my own?
Self-help strategies like mindfulness and journaling are valuable tools, but for complex trauma, professional guidance is crucial. A trauma-informed therapist provides a safe environment to process experiences without re-traumatisation, using evidence-based techniques custom to your needs.
Research shows professional support can have benefit in trauma recovery, often speeding up healing. A therapist helps manage the pace of your recovery, knowing when to push forward and when to focus on stabilisation.
A strong support network of friends, family, or groups is also vital. At The Freedom Room, our team offers authentic, expert support, drawing from both professional and lived experience. You do not have to face this alone. Seeking help is not a sign of weakness but a courageous step towards genuine, lasting healing.