It was not that long ago that I was writing here about the treacherous ice on the road near my house that caused my only bike wreck of the winter. I referred to the ice in that blog post as a metaphor for various elements in my life that had been unseen by me and thus caused some recklessness or even damage to others due to my blind sightedness. Well, it’s been a couple months since I let my painful and inflamed wrist go untreated for that time. On Monday I went for an x-ray (finally!) and got the good news that there were no breaks although there was plenty of swelling clearly illuminated. I’ll go back to the hospital in a week to see a hand specialist to see if some of the pain and swelling can be alleviated. So, here’s to not knowing.

This news has been a little frustrating to receive. If a break had been revealed by the x-ray, I might have been able to breathe easy knowing the cause of my suffering for the last couple months. Instead, I am given a cryptic report of swelling and a referral to a specialist. And, I am still in pain and have limited mobility. These events of the last week have had me thinking about the mysterious and resilient ways of the human body and how this resiliency is also evident in people’s mental health. Not only in moments of physical trauma, like my bike wreck, have I witnessed in myself and others the ways in which injurious events can become so profoundly integrated into everyday living and coping. Emotional trauma can also be swept under the psychic rug as we attempt to wake up each morning, live our lives, and meet our individual needs and those needs of others who depend on us. My ability to do virtually the same daily activities as before my bike wreck while my wrist has been continuing to cause me pain is analogous to the ways in which individuals who have survived non-physical trauma can function normally in their daily lives. Our psyches offer a tremendous amount of support for coping.
I see and hear about both kinds of injuries within the various communities that I support at Emmanuel. It would be near impossible to enter Common Art, the prison, or Café Emmanuel and not see at least one person with a physical ailment. Likewise, it would be a truly anomalous week if at least one person did not share a story with me about his/her experience of emotional trauma. In fact, just by default, the members of Art and Spirituality, Common Art, and Café Emmanuel have a much greater propensity to experience daily emotional trauma due to systemic oppression and the violence that they face from individuals who are acting in line with that oppression. Quite simply, the participants of these programs are members of vulnerable populations.

I feel blessed that my wrist will be getting some attention in the coming week and that through the support of a specialist I am hopeful for a full recovery. I have heard that once a bone has been broken and mends properly that it is as much as twice as strong as it was before the break. Although I didn’t break my wrist, I am holding that imagery for greater strength on the other side of my recovery. This idea is an integral thread in my personal ethos regarding trauma healing of any kind–be it physical or emotional. Although I do not believe that any person can provide healing for another, I do believe that the role of the therapist is to create the supportive space for the one seeking healing to step onto her own unique path. If the proper kind of support can be offered, much like the mending of bones, the psyche can also heal and the individual can become stronger because of the trauma she has faced.

–Liana,  March 29, 2015