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Type B Trauma

While Type A trauma is the absence of necessary things, Type B trauma occurs when bad things happen in your life—things that should not happen. This type of trauma is usually much easier to recognize and diagnose than Type A because it is usually a specific incident or repeated incident that can be associated with a time and place in our memory (since Type A refers to things that never happened, you cannot usually associate it with one specific incident).

Examples of this type of trauma can include physical or sexual abuse, emotional abuse (such as name-calling), the death of a loved one (which can also lead to Type A trauma), the loss of a job or property, witnessing a crime, witnessing or being involved in a tragic accident, severe illness, war, and a host of other things that we all hope would not happen to anyone we love.
 
Healing from this type of trauma is often a bit faster than its countertype, but it is still a process. A key to healing from this type of trauma lies in uncovering God’s truth and recognizing His presence in each one of these situations. This involves understanding that it wasn’t your fault (unless it was, of course—and that involves deep repentance and selfforgiveness). It also involves seeing God’s hand working in the midst of it—protecting, guiding, and carrying. It involves seeing God’s emotion in the midst of it all, and also being true to yourself about your own emotions, as well as finding the right expression of those emotions.

Another key is in finding purpose for your pain. So many times, I (Matthew) asked the Lord why I had to endure all the things I went through. Even when I found peace for the situations themselves, I could not find peace with a God who would allow me to go through all of them without a purpose. But God is a redeemer. He will turn all of it around for His glory if you let Him and if you ask Him to.

My redemption is “to be free so I can set others free.” I went through all that I did so that I would have authority over those things to break them off of the lives of others. I went through those things so I would know the Lord as my healer. I went through those things so I could found a ministry like Journey to Freedom so you could find help along your own healing journey.

And sure, I wish there could have been another way. I wouldn’t wish my trauma on my worst enemy, but now that I have this purpose behind it—not that it was the reason for it, but because it is the redemption of it—I have peace with God for allowing me to go through it, and I can be truly free from the events of my past. That same freedom waits for you, too, as you continue your journey.

Continue to Type B Dangers ->
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