A study found that if someone doesn't immediately express his feelings after a potentially traumatizing event, it's more likely to mean that he's resilient than that he's bottling up his emotions unhealthily. Do therapists ever know better than a client whether he needs to address a potentially difficult experience? We asked the experts in Psychology Today's Therapy Directory.
Handing Over the Reins
"I never assume that I know better than they do about their own needs," says Lindsey Stewart Plumer of Roseville, CA. "I tell my clients that while they didn't choose to suffer a trauma, they get to choose how they deal with it, with whom, and under what circumstances. Part of the healing after a trauma is to become empowered again."
Up a Creek
"We close down after trauma for a good reason: to protect ourselves from overload, which can feel like being in the rapids without an oar," says Jill Rosen of Beverly Hills, CA. "Pulling away a defense without another defense in place may cause harm."
