"We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. We’ve got to go through it." That phrase, from the beloved children’s book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt , holds a deep truth about healing from trauma. Most of us want to move past pain as quickly as possible—to avoid it, numb it, or bury it under our daily responsibilities . But the only way to truly heal is by going through it . In fact, one of the core symptoms of PTSD is avoidance —avoiding reminders, emotions, and even the truth of what happened. But avoidance doesn’t free us from trauma ; it keeps us stuck on the inside . I learned this in the hardest way imaginable—the morning I woke up and found my husband had passed away in his sleep. Continue Reading...