Recovery in Real Time: A Trauma Survivor's Anti-Workbook

By Gail Dickert

Survivors of trauma are gaining increasing coverage in the media. Because of pop culture cautionary tales like the Duggar Family, coupled with a call to action from celebrity icons like Lady Gaga, millennials are moving away from the standardized textbooks for trauma recovery. Survivors crave social media support and are inspired by self-help-driven tweets. #RECOVERY IN REAL TIME: A Trauma Survivor's Anti-Workbook, provides a modernized guidebook for trauma survivors and their loved ones in 125 hashtags.

#RECOVERY IN REAL TIME is a concise and user-guided walk through the trauma survivor’s recovery experience. With survivor-focused hashtags like #DenialisContagious, #ReasonCanFail, #LyingIsSurvival, #TherapyIsTerrifying, #WeAreNotNormal, and #MediaDistortsTrauma. Gail’s anti-workbook provides survivors and their loved ones with relevant and poignant highlights of the cycle of recovery which includes major stages such as Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.

#RECOVERY IN REAL TIME is a non-fiction self-help book with an anti-workbook length and approach that appeals directly to people who desperately need a real time version of Ellen Bass’/Laura Davis’ "The Courage to Heal." This condensed guide meets survivors’ need for digestible yet realistic snapshots of the recovery process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gail Dickert
• Release date: Aug 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9780997647303

Gail Dickert

Gail Dickert is an indie author, blogger and children/youth advocate who has published two previous auto-biographical works related to grief, personal growth, spirituality, and self-acceptance. "Enlightened-ish" and "Coming Out of the Closet without Coming Apart at the Seams"; are available for purchase. For Gail So Loved the World is her blog, where she discusses spirituality, politics and social and emotional intelligence from a global perspective. Currently, Gail resides in the Washington DC area and serves her local community as the Executive Director of a nature-based early learning center. Recovery in Real Time is the first project under Publishing for a Change, LLC, of which she serves as Founder. Follow her work at www.homospirituality.com and www.publishingforachange.com

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Gail Dickert

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review and use of hashtags with commentary.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-9976473-0-3

Publishing for a Change, LLC

www.publishingforachange.com

Dedicated to every trauma survivor who is walking a path to recovery in real time

Introduction

Survivors of sexual assault, molestation, mental/emotional abuse, combat, physical abuse, or spiritual abuses share a common experience in modern times: We are treated like a hashtag, given about thirty seconds of attention before another hashtag takes the focus off of survivor experiences. Meanwhile, our recovery from trauma is a life-long and complicated reality but the resources are often workbooks that take years to complete, leaving survivors feeling like the recovery process is a part-time job. This Anti-Workbook aims to amplify the voice of survivors and simplify the ever-present journey so we can find recovery in real time.

Trauma affects us after a holiday, during a random movie, following a family phone call, after sirens blare, during a thunderstorm, after an Oscar performance – even after years of therapy survivors still live with the effects in real time. What resource is there for those in your face moments when the traumatic memories comes in like a flood?

#RecoveryInRealTime is a survivor’s close companion, referenced in the quiet of your own home, or magnified into the trending reality that we all face.

Keep reading to find out how to use #RecoveryInRealTime and remember, you are not alone in your experiences.

Disclaimer

Please do not substitute self-education or social media communities for ongoing mental health support. See the resources at the end of this Anti-Workbook and seek immediate help if any of these stages trigger responses that cause you to experience symptoms of Depression (Stage Four). This Anti-Workbook is designed to inform and educate, as well as unite survivor experiences. All readers assume responsibility for their own mental and emotional health by choosing to engage in this movement. Partner with medical and psychological professionals if you are unsure if you can engage in a healthy way at this time.

About the Author

#RecoveryInRealTime was designed and written by a 20-year survivor of childhood sexual abuse. She also survived long-term traumatic religious experiences and survived a sexual assault in her teenage years. In her 30’s she witnessed the suicide of a stranger, which resulted in complex PTSD for several years. After sharing her story for decades, with fellow survivors, survivor advocates, she designed this Anti-Workbook. This project represents a lifetime of trauma recovery translated into the 125 digestible and relatable observations within a five-stage grief process.

How to Use This Guidebook

(A Message from the Author)

#RecoveryInRealTime represents the belief that trauma recovery is not a linear, one-time healing process, but a lifetime of sometimes unpredictable incarnations or cycles that can be graciously, mindfully, and emotionally embraced. There is no wrong way to engage in the series of hashtags presented here. Your recovery belongs to you.

These hashtags represent various trauma scenarios within the cyclical experience of grief. We grieve our innocence, simplicity, privilege, and peace with every trigger. Sometimes grief is complicated and feels like a violent intrusion on mood and routine and sometimes grief is a moment in a day that can be observed peacefully.

#RecoveryInRealTime is set up to address trauma through Five Stages of Grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Each stage requires a deeper examination of the recovery process but we know that many feelings overlap. One way to use this Anti-Workbook is to look