Trauma release timeline – from past to present
Releasing trauma is a confusing experience. We’re dealing with past and present simultaneously, and the two can be hard to differentiate as the trauma unravels. In this post I explain the basic dynamic of the trauma release timeline to show how the past gradually gives way to the present and a new, clearer self emerges.
This timeline covers the period from when a trauma explodes into consciousness to the point when its past effects have been fully cleared. In the case of deep trauma, this can take several years.
The trauma could be something that happened in your life, or it could be generational trauma from an ancestor—typically your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents.
The trauma could be something you’re aware of or—particularly with inherited trauma—a ‘bolt from the blue’ you know nothing about.
In 2021 I received information from a distant relative that in 1922 my great-grandfather went on trial for tax fraud. This low point in family history—with its attendant traumatic effects—had been buried for almost a century. It took a couple of years to fully surface for release.
Trauma release timeline
Imagine a timeline with three versions of you at different times in your life.
- The ‘past you’ who experiences a traumatic event as a child or young adult. Alternately, it’s you as the surrogate carrier of generational trauma from an event an ancestor experienced and was emotionally overwhelmed by.
- The ‘current you’ who is going through the painful and confusing experience of feeling the pain, grief, anger, loss and other feelings associated with the past traumatic event—as if it was happening now—while also experiencing your current usual array of feelings.
- The ‘future you’ who is clear and present after releasing all unprocessed feelings associated with the past traumatic event.
The timeline is the process of feeling through the unprocessed experience until the feelings fade (the blue arrow above).
NOTE: I often include the legend ‘Personal – Planetary’ in the heading as a reminder that as each individual goes, so collectively goes the planet.
Fade to zero
The closer to the point of trauma release, the more dominant the erupting feelings, thoughts, and memories, and the greater the confusion. Past feelings can be confused with feelings about the present or future with little ability to discern between them. We are effectively travelling backwards and forwards in time simultaneously.
These feelings are experienced at an accelerated rate. For instance, let’s say a child experienced a trauma in 1980. In 2020, after 40 years of numbness and memory loss, the trauma broke through due to some triggering event, such as the death of a key person involved.
The person will experience the 40 years of numbed-out feelings over, say, 4 years until they have cleared the backlog of unprocessed feelings. However, the processing rate will not be consistent (10 past years per current year). The preponderance of emotions will happen early on, gradually fading to a zero point at the end of the timeline.
As time progresses, a slowly growing separation between past and present feelings and thoughts emerges.
‘Showing up’
Another attribute that changes as the timeline proceeds is the ability to ‘show up’—to be emotionally clear and present, and able to deal with life’s eventualities with (at least some) grace and balance.
The traumatised self, overwhelmed by some past event, had little ability to show up due to the burden of unprocessed feelings. The technical term for this condition is Depersonalisation Disorder.
As we work through the trauma, our ability to show up waxes and wanes but over time gradually increases and becomes embedded as a clearer sense of self.
Finally, as we reach the end of the timeline, the effects of the trauma recede. Our ability to be clear and present in the ‘now’ solidifies to a new, more empowered level.
Next steps
For further resources on generational trauma, both free and paid, please click on this image.
Photo by 愚木混株 cdd20 on Unsplash