Elisa Muñoz Martínez

Los eventos traumáticos son parte de la vida. Accidentes, fallecimientos u operaciones son algunos ejemplos comunes y que, por lo general, podemos mencionar a otras personas. No obstante, los abusos sexuales, psicológicos, emocionales o físicos son tan frecuentes como los anteriores, con la diferencia de que no existe el mismo nivel de apoyo social para éstos. A la vez, se suelen obviar los traumas por omisión o negligencia (aquello "que no pasó" y que debería haberse dado), y los traumas vicarios, en referencia a los traumas adquiridos por ser testigo del daño ocurrido a otros.

No se nos enseña cómo hablar de estas cosas, y tampoco se nos enseña a escucharlas, añadiendo así una capa de complejidad para procesar los traumas. Si, al compartir tus experiencias, algunas vez has escuchado "no es para tanto", "no llores", "no te enfades", "no lo pienses" o incluso "¿estás seguro de que ocurrió así?", entonces seguramente tengas algo que compartir en la terapia.

No somos, en definitiva, animales que sobrevivan solos.

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Traumatic events are part of our lives. Accidents, deaths and surgeries are common examples that we usually feel safe disclosing to others. However, sexual, psychological, emotional or physical abuse happen as frequent as the previous examples, but they rarely come with the same level of social support. At the same time, omission or negligence-based traumas are usually forgotten (those traumas where something important did not occur), and so are vicarious traumas, in which the victim develops a trauma from being witness to the experience of harm of someone else.

We are not taught how to talk about these events, and we are also not taught how to listen to someone else sharing their experiences, thus obstaculizing the proccess of healing further. If you have ever been told regarding your experiences that "it doesn't sound so bad", "don't cry", "don't be angry", "don't think about it" or even "are you sure it happened that way?", then you probably have something to share in therapy.

In essence, we are not beings that are meant to survive alone.