How do I heal from past trauma and allow myself to be genuinely happy?

Hello Jewel,

Thank you for submitting you question. It definitely takes time and patience to heal from past trauma and allow yourself to be genuinely happy. It would be helpful to seek support, guidance, and assistance from a licensed professional therapist, social worker, or mental health professional to help process your feelings and emotions. Practicing mindfulness and being active can be a heathy distraction and help you to become more social and not isolate yourself. Setting small goals, making a reasonable to do list, and journaling is also helpful to manage triggers.

It can be helpful to be emotionally aware, attentive, and present when you are interacting with your children and not just going through the motions because you are distracted and mentally disconnected from whatever is going on around you. Demonstrating healthy coping skills and communication is important when children are involved because you don't want them to mimic your behavior of isolating yourself from friends and family.

Identify what your triggers are, where do the triggers come from, and how you react to the triggers. Reprogram negative beliefs and replace the negative beliefs with a positive and realistic one. It will not happen overnight and there is no quick fix to combat PTSD. It is a process that will take commitment, guidance, and an open mind. Being committed to investigate your feelings and thoughts. It can be helpful to research where the triggers originated. This can be a challenging and difficult process but you can learn coping skills to manage your triggers. Receiving guidance from a trained professional can help you understand what is triggering you, how to gain a better understanding of triggers, develop ways to identify triggers, and learn healthy ways to deal with others when you become triggered. Developing a toolkit can be helpful to manage triggers and effectively communicate with those who trigger us. Establishing healthy boundaries and identifying what you are willing to accept and not accept is good self-management and self-awareness. 

Finding healthy ways to express and release your feelings can allow you to heal the triggers, gradually move forward, and hopefully embrace your power.