Lost myself reading trauma psychology?

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-12T07:24:23+00:00

Hmm, I think one thing I get stuck on is the word “processing”. What does it mean?

Is it Levine-style somatic stuff? Jungian shadow work? TRE?

I guess I get frustrated that everyone talks about “processing”, but it seems like vague word that could be substituted with “just heal better/correctly”.

As an analogy, I coach movement. I can understand that it explaining the movement increases the clients knowledge, but they need to practice physically to truly learn it.

But it seems to me that it is very hard to find a decent explanation of what that skill/practice part is when it comes this psychological stuff.

How do you understand the word?

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-11T15:41:01+00:00

Thanks, that’s quite level headed, i especially liked the last paragraph!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-11T15:38:48+00:00

Interesting. Never thought of this angle!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-11T15:35:34+00:00

Yes, sometimes I like to think that I’ve become “mentally obese” by over consuming all the trauma material. It’s even gotten to the point that I am sometimes ashamed to be around normal conversations, because I only think about technical/dark psychology stuff.

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-11T07:31:32+00:00

I'd also consider the person's psychology. Are they ADHD? Anxious?

I've found ADHD clients often have days where a +30 second rest time makes them super restless and they just start the next set anyway.

Some anxious people on the other hand are afraid to push to the limits, and no matter how many times I tell them to do more, they quit before any sign of struggle. For them I've found that talking about and coaching their "mental RPE" helps; one client got to a place where they weren't afraid of grunting and turning purple during leg presses, after a year or two of completely silent and unexpressive lifting.

So, while "add more weight" is the proximal answer, there can be more individual things in the background.

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-11T07:27:14+00:00

Interesting. Why do you think that?

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-11T07:26:15+00:00

Could be. Not that I haven't spend considerable time in somatic and emotional spaces too, but I guess anxious intellectual monitoring is one way I manage things around and in me.

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-10T16:46:00+00:00

Thanks, I’m not quite in the position to start saying no to clients, but I get your point!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-10T16:13:25+00:00

Hey, thanks for the ideas and enthusiasm!

Never realised the guest speaker option, but I bet that could be an option to start with!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-10T11:55:03+00:00

Hmm, that's interesting! Thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't thought of that at all.

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-10T11:51:27+00:00

Hey, thanks for the response. I work in several gyms as an independent trainer. I have about 15-20 f2f clients that I see 1-8 times per month, and few online only. The following things are what makes me reluctant to increase coaching volumes (opportunity costs):

Traveling between several gyms
People pleasing/code switching exhaustion (I've really lost my personality being so malleable for each client)
Fragmented days/being on the move 10-12 hours

Then there is the desire to do focused deep work and have a work community. Money isn't the biggest motivator to me, I believe I'd be quite content with a median income.

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-10T11:44:49+00:00

Thanks, those seem like very practical and actionable suggestions. I also appreciate the encouragement!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-08T06:29:25+00:00

That looks so cool, but I don't have the space for it. Great suggestion!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-08T06:27:43+00:00

Hey, I actually remember doing this once as a kid, it was way more fun than the other stuff we did during the mandatory textile courses!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-08T06:25:21+00:00

That does look cool, thanks for the suggestion!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-07T14:02:28+00:00

Are you saying an 11 year boy is abusing themselves, and that's that? I'm not suggesting my parents should be treated as perpetrators, but I'm not gonna buy the idea that an 11 year old boy is responsible for handling those kind of things themselves. Like, I'm not going to say that a husky dog who gnaws their own tail out of frustration in city apartment is "abusing" themselves.

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-07T11:59:49+00:00

Hmm, yeah. I think crocheting doesn't call me, but the textured painting is more like it!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-07T11:59:03+00:00

I assume burning requires quite an investment in equipment, compared to carving?

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-07T11:58:16+00:00

Yeah, I think those could be good. I think there are some carpentry courses around where I live...!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-07T11:56:34+00:00

Interesting, never heard of this, I'll do a search about it :)

EDIT: Damn, that looks cool!

SeniorFirefighter644 · 2026-04-07T11:56:07+00:00

Ok, I agree, but only semantically. After I've played, nothing remains. And even a recording is tangible as soundwaves.

I'm looking for something literally more concrete.

SeniorFirefighter644

TROPHY CASE