How to Manage the Journey of Childhood Trauma Recovery

Recovering from childhood trauma is a process that requires courage and fortitude.

It allows survivors to live our lives to their fullest.

The journey isn’t linear, and it doesn’t mean “fixing” ourselves.

It means learning to live in a way that both honors what we’ve experienced and embraces a healthier life in the present.

It allows us to live with greater intimacy and sense of joy.

Like any recovery process, it is best done with awareness of the practices which offer us support during the process.

Here are five powerful ways to support a trauma healing journey:

1. Do Things That Bring Joy

Why it matters:

Joy acts as an antidote to trauma’s pull toward hypervigilance and emotional numbness.

According to trauma expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, “pleasure and engagement are essential elements of recovery” because trauma often leaves us disconnected from positive emotional states (Van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score, 2014).

Even brief moments of joy can signal safety to the nervous system and help restore a sense of vitality.

For survivors of childhood trauma, reconnecting with joy can feel out of reach.

The weight of sadness, guilt and shame can make joy feel distant or even undeserved.

But joy doesn’t have to arrive all at once.

As we walk the path of healing, we can begin by noticing the small, meaningful moments that carry even a hint of lightness or delight.

Simple practices—like a warm cup of tea, a song that stirs something inside, or a quiet walk outdoors—can gently guide us toward balance.

These moments won’t erase the pain, but they can remind us that joy, too, belongs on our healing journey.

Examples of joy-promoting activities:

• Movement (dance, walking, stretching)

• Art, music, and creativity

• Time in nature

• Laughter

Journal prompts:

• What used to bring me joy as a child?

• When was the last time I felt truly alive or lit up? What was I doing?

• How can I bring small doses of joy into my life this week?

2. Notice What You Are Feeling in Your Body

Why it matters:

Trauma isn’t just a memory—it’s a physiological imprint.

Dr. Peter Levine, developer of Somatic Experiencing, explains that “the body holds the key to healing trauma” (Waking the Tiger, 1997).

As children who experienced trauma, we learned to disconnect from our bodies and feelings—because feeling everything was just too much.

This isn’t a failure.

It was actually an incredibly smart and protective response.

Numbing out or shutting down helped us survive.

The hard part is that as adults, this same strategy can leave us feeling distant from ourselves. We might struggle to notice what we’re feeling, or even feel afraid of our own emotions and physical sensations.

Since emotions live in the body, being cut off from our bodies can make it really hard to understand or trust what we feel.

That’s not our fault—it’s something we learned to do in order to survive.

And the good news is: we can gently begin to reconnect.

With care, support, and patience, we can learn to feel safe in our bodies again.

Learning to notice and name what we’re sensing in our bodies increases regulation and body-based safety.

Developing this awareness gently can help us begin to trust our own inner cues.

Practices to try:

• Body scans or tension check-ins

• Deep breathing with hand over the heart

• Grounding techniques (e.g., noticing five things you see, four you feel, etc.)

• Yoga or mindful movement

Journal prompts:

• What sensations am I feeling in my body right now?

• When I feel anxious or overwhelmed, where do I feel it in my body?

• What helps my body feel calm, safe, or supported?

3. Seek and Accept Support From Others

Why it matters:

We are born into relationship.

And our survival depends on it.

Relationships are everything for a child.

And so much of the trauma children experience is linked to being alone in the face of fear, harm and suffering.

Psychiatrist and trauma researcher Dr. Judith Herman writes that “recovery can take place only within the context of relationships; it cannot occur in isolation” (Trauma and Recovery, 1992).

Supportive connections provide the co-regulation, mirroring, and witnessing we need to feel seen and valued.

Forms of healing support:

• Friends or chosen family who validate your feelings

• Support communities (online or in-person)

• Spiritual or cultural communities that offer belonging

• Finding a childhood trauma recovery group (RRP)

Journal prompts:

• Who feels emotionally safe to me? Why?

• What fears come up when I consider asking for support?

• What would it look like to let someone truly support me this week?

4. Prioritize Self-Care With Compassion

Why it matters:

Childhood trauma can teach us that our needs are too much, or that we must abandon ourselves to be accepted.

We may have learned to prioritize the needs of others and ignore or belittle our own needs.

We may believe that having needs is selfish and wrong.

Prioritizing self-care is a way to counter these harmful beliefs.

Dr. Kristin Neff, researcher on self-compassion, explains that self-kindness builds resilience and emotional well-being (Self-Compassion, 2011).

Self-care isn’t a reward—it’s a right.

We can learn to listen to what we truly need.

Ways to practice self-care:

• Nourishing your body with sleep, food, water, and movement

• Setting boundaries that protect your energy

• Making space for rest, not just productivity

• Replacing self-criticism with self-kindness

Journal prompts:

• How do I typically respond to myself when I’m struggling?

• What are 3 ways I can take care of myself this week?

• If I treated myself like someone I love, what would I do differently today?

5. Accept that recovery moves in cycles.

Why it matters:

There are times when we feel strong, clear, and connected—and times when old patterns or feelings resurface, pulling us into doubt or pain.

This ebb and flow is part of the process, not a sign of failure.

Dr. Judith Herman, in her foundational work Trauma and Recovery (1992), describes trauma healing as unfolding in phases, including establishing safety, remembering and mourning, and reconnecting—each of which may cycle and repeat as deeper layers of healing emerge.

Similarly, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk explains in The Body Keeps the Score (2014) that healing requires returning to traumatic memories in tolerable doses, emphasizing that reprocessing trauma often activates the very nervous system states we are learning to regulate.

This explains why regression or setbacks may actually reflect deeper integration.

Clinical psychologist and researcher Janina Fisher also notes in Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors (2017) that trauma survivors often move between dysregulation and integration, and that “seeming setbacks are often the nervous system’s way of reorganizing and rebalancing.”

When we expect the journey to include both steps forward and revisiting previous places of struggle, we can meet ourselves with more patience, understanding, and care.

Helpful Reminders

• Notice the patterns. Keep a simple journal of what helps you feel grounded during hard times.

• Practice self-compassion. Talk to yourself kindly when you feel like you’ve “gone backward.”

• Build regulation tools. Use breathwork, grounding, or gentle movement to help your body feel safe.

• Reach out for support. Share what’s coming up with a trusted friend, therapist, or group.

• Celebrate small wins. Healing happens in moments — notice when you choose care, even if it feels small.

Journal prompts:

• When I’m in a period of progress or clarity, what thoughts, habits, or relationships seem to support me?

• When I feel like I’ve “gone backward” in my healing, what do I usually tell myself? How can I reframe that with more compassion?

• What does a “down” or difficult phase of my healing usually look or feel like in my body? How might that be a signal of something surfacing to be healed?

• Can I recall a time when I came out of a difficult period with new insight, strength, or clarity? What helped me through it?

• What would it mean to trust the process—even when it feels messy or slow?

A Final Thought:

When we acknowledge that healing from childhood trauma can be challenging, we open the door to offering ourselves the support we need.

By finding tools that help us feel grounded and reaching out to others for connection and care, we create a stronger foundation for the healing journey.

Often, survivors of childhood trauma find it hard to ask for help or even admit that we need it.

Many of us learned early on to rely only on ourselves, to hide our pain, or to believe that needing support was a weakness.

But it’s not.

We all need help—every person does.

Allowing ourselves to receive support and caring for ourselves is not a failure; it’s a powerful part of healing.