One of the more “popular” terms in pop psychology for the past decade or so is in fact trauma. What makes trauma so interesting is that while some things may appear as very obvious examples of trauma (physical or sexual abuse, accidents or injuries resulting in hospitalization, life-altering events such as death or loss) there are in fact many other experiences that are “traumatic” in that they are received by the individual with an overwhelming amount of emotion, difficulty processing the information present, and struggles to move forward afterward. To that end, trauma can in fact be somewhat subjective to the individual. How I process an event may be different than how another person may process the very same event that we were both present for. But perhaps the most common reason that trauma may be a presenting issue in the counseling process is that for many people who experience something traumatic in their lifetimes, they simply do not know where to go or what to do with that experience. For many people, trying to move forward requires conjuring up all of their inner strength in order to attempt to best cope with past events, though the idea of revisiting those memories, examining them, recalling how they felt and what emotions were present at that time, these are painful and difficult things to walk through that most individuals would choose just to ignore instead.

The truth about trauma is, however, that choosing to pack up and move forward without addressing these issues is simply choosing to delay the impact of them. Our brains and our bodies were designed to keep track of these things, remembering how we felt, and how we may have responded or reacted, and past trauma has a way of bubbling up to the surface even years later, and often at times that are simply inconvenient. When we do not address past trauma, we run the risk of it causing cascading effects in our lives for years to come. Thus the best course forward is through. Working through the counseling process in order to address past trauma, while at times painful and difficult, is also both freeing and fulfilling. An individual who is able to process their past experiences is able to learn from them, grow from them, and find freedom from the lies that those events have spoken into their person or identity. Understanding through Biblical Counseling that suffering is not only a virtually guaranteed part of life, but also a process through which we have the opportunity to glorify and worship our creator provides context, meaning, and insight into life itself. Micro Current Neurofeedback in conjunction with counseling is an ideal approach to dealing with past trauma, allowing the brain to become “unstuck” from its learned patterns that trauma has established while granting the space to explore those events and experiences and move forward in a healthy manner.