History is written in capital letters thanks to its phases of transition and crisis. Conflict, protest, and awareness empower society to rewrite its foundations and emerge with a new structure of thought, feeling, and action.

Our present time, in particular, impregnated by a phenomenon of social denunciation , is vibrant, as well as defiant. It gives the sensation that something is being cooked. Something that wants to transcend the limits of the prevailing system. For many intellectuals, we are living an extraordinarily historic moment.

In this article, in conversation with Hernandez Psychologists, we will see how these moments of social struggle help us to reinterpret the concept of the victim in relation to traumatic incidents.

A Time of Victim Empowerment

Movements like the #MeTo, feminism or the legislation of historical memory give a good account of the vindicating nature of the present . And, at the same time, they serve as spokespersons to focus on the human drama, both the immediate and the daily one, as well as the one of the past.

This time of crisis, therefore, facilitates the expression and recognition of the damage received, honouring our condition, at least in the past, of victims.

This socio-cultural breeding ground, therefore, not only screams “Enough!” but also allows us to show our faces so that we can share a “I was a victim of…” or “I went through…”. The need to become aware and share something painful from our past is beginning to emerge in us . Or, even, the impulse to put limits to a current situation that is frankly uncomfortable and incompatible with our personal values.

How does therapy address this discomfort?

In Hernández Psicólogos they applaud the arrival of this intimate crisis, despite their inherent discomfort and desperation, since, due to their specialized training in this phenomenon and their psychotherapeutic experience, they know what it means, what their potential for personal growth is and how to deal with it.

However, giving voice to untold suffering , whether in the form of sexual abuse, physical and psychological mistreatment, mobbing, bullying, etc.; must conform to a very particular methodology. In this sense, your model of psychotherapeutic work when dealing with traumatic incidents of any kind meets the following conditions

1. Listening without prejudging

The person who wishes to share his story has the right to receive a treatment based on unconditional acceptance, non-judgment and authenticity .

Such a person has the courage to ask for help to "digest" a painful situation previously not shared and this honor for the therapist translates into a guarantee of respect, commitment and confidentiality.

2. The person has the right to feel in control of his or her experiential process

Each person is master of his words, queen of his time and space, protagonist of his story , and both the psychotherapist and the therapeutic relationship are at his service.

The traumatic incident can be told in words or using non-verbal procedures: to be told in writing, through a drawing, using music, body movements, etc.

The specialization of Hernández Psicólogos has led them to train in various therapeutic approaches, such as art therapy, the sandbox, sensorimotor therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), psychodrama, etc; seeking the empowerment of the person and the flexibility of the narrative process .

In addition, there is the psychological option of facilitating the cognitive and emotional reprocessing of the traumatic experience without the need to share anything of what happened, due to the therapeutic power of procedures such as EMDR or Focusing, for example.

3. The person has the right to share the traumatic incident in an “integrated” way

The human being can be considered as a constellation of experiences, resources and relationships . This richness can be condensed into the formation of an internal system of “parts”, where more than one “I” can exist within us: a frightened inner child, a rebellious adolescent, an efficient and responsible adult, etc.

In Hernandez Psychologists honor both the experience of the person and his present emotional process and his individual idiosyncrasy, so that the narration and reprocessing of the painful event will be done taking into account the needs and fears and resources of all parts of the internal system, from the kindness and curiosity, without forcing anything or anyone .

4. The person has the right to share his or her story without the risk of being “retraumatized”

As important as the what is the how. The account of the traumatic incident will be monitored, moment by moment, by the psychotherapist , ensuring that he does not facilitate access to a state of extreme terror or anger (hyperactivation) or to a situation of disconnection and numbness (hypoactivation).

It is the psychotherapist’s task to accompany the person in this process so that he or she can be kept in a range of painful but healthy experience, which facilitates their release; in neuroscientific terms, in an “optimal activation tolerance window”.

The person, in short, will never feel flooded nor overcome by his experience in the presence of the psychotherapist , being able to take “home” both tools of emotional self-regulation and of relational regulation, due to the emphasis that in Hernandez Psychologists is given to the so-called Emotional Intelligence.

5. The person has the right to receive “contextualised” treatment

The person carrying a traumatic story is not an isolated island in the sea. He/she is part, by nature, of a network of relationships, of a family, couple, work and/or social nature . The disclosure of the incident has to be made taking into account the social reality of the person, as well as the present moment of the person.

In Hernández, they support you in your process of narration and liberation from your past, but without losing sight of either the present or your current socio-affective and working moment. To this end, their training and specialisation is also based on psychotherapeutic approaches based on Mindfulness or Full Care and on Systemic Therapy, being experts in the dynamics of family and couple relationships .

The courage and sensitivity shown by a person who wishes not only to share, but to integrate and heal a traumatic memory calls for an exercise in honesty, responsibility and commitment, where the “how” and the “who” are above the “what” and the “why”.

Concluding

If you feel that you have connected with that internal need to share a terrible story, in Hernandez Psychologists bet on the care and development of that experience that is emerging in your mind and body and, above all, want to give you their encouragement, from their training, experience and vocational dedication . They not only offer a specialized psychological treatment for your problem, but also one that is tailored to your person, your history and your present moment.

Don’t forget that you are much more than your history, however much it has conditioned your experience. You, moreover, are above your process, however confusing and distressing it may be. Ultimately, you deserve to reach your full potential, being able to transcend your role as victim and connect with your innate capacity to love, be passionate and discover.