8. Open up and share your feelings
Now that you have had the time to identify, name, acknowledge, and express your feelings, you will find yourself amenable to sharing your feelings with a trusted confidante. It might be possible for you to share your journey of emotional self-discovery with someone who was there during the time you experienced the trauma. You may feel more comfortable speaking to your partner or a friend who may or may not even have known about the trauma you experienced.
In sharing with other people, it will be necessary to explain the circumstances of the trauma and everything that happened so that they can understand. But don’t stop there, and don’t dwell on the events alone. Go further into the matter by discussing the emotions you felt at the time and how you reacted. Speak about the impact the event has had on you as an individual. Describe the process you have undergone to work through what you feel.
Sharing something like this with someone who truly cares about you can be liberating. It can also open your eyes to new perspectives and give you insights you might not have had before. Maybe it can even open the door for the other person to take strength from you and begin to address a trauma they experienced. It would make the painful process you’ve worked through even more rewarding if you knew it was going to help someone else.
You also need to share your feelings with the people who were there and who you feel failed you in that situation. You have been hurt, and you have the right to express that to those who hurt you. However, it may be better for you, in the long run, to write that person a letter about your feelings but keep it instead of sending it. Opening up to people who have hurt you can give them power over you again, which you obviously want to avoid.