Based on 30+ years of clinical and teaching experience.
If you were trapped in a dangerous situation for a longer period of time—perhaps weeks, months, or even years—so long that you felt it might never end—you will need to go through more steps over time to regain your full strength.
We call these lengthier experiences “sustained traumas.” They are more debilitating than single-event traumas because they force you to develop habitual ways of behaving and thinking in order to survive. For instance, you may have had a relationship with a dangerous person—a relative, spouse, classmate, or co-worker who threatened you for a long time. Or you may have lived in a part of the world that underwent long periods of war, rampant crime, or civil unrest.
The habits you build to cope with such traumatic situations may persist long after the trauma is over and may exert a debilitating effect on your life. Because of this, recovering from a sustained trauma requires a specific procedure to retrain your habits and restore your sense of safety.
Life Repair 102 works with Life Repair 101 but includes specific instructions to help you recover from longer traumatic periods in your life. It will help you relearn how to live a life in which you feel safe. It will guide you in retraining your habits so that your past no longer impedes your ability to thrive and find happiness and fulfillment. And along the way, it will prompt you when and how to do the work of recovering from all the single-event traumas that may have occurred during your sustained trauma.
