Something Greater Than Your Self

Clinical studies show that people traumatized and wounded by life's circumstances suffer less from depression when they have belief in something greater than themselves. This belief can be in the form of spirituality, mission, or philosophy. Such is found to offer tremendous healing support to work through pain.

Psychiatrist/author Dr. Victor Frankl was a victim of Hitler's Holocaust. It's one the worst ordeals in human history. Dr. Frankl wrote of "logotherapy," finding meaning in the suffering. Many held on to their faith and thus were able to survive.

Members of the Alcoholics Anonymous or AA and other 12-step programs recognize the healing dimension of the presence of a Higher Power in recovery. To many, it means God. To others, it means a spirituality or some life mission that they've lost or rediscovered within themselves.

Martin Luther King Jr. alluded to the power of faith when he said, "I have a dream." His dream inspired many heroes and martyrs in varied countries who had to go through the bleak days of political oppression or execution.

If you're suffering from trauma or a state of victimization, seeing your self as part of something greater brings hope. It allows you to see your adverse situation as just temporary. Getting in touch with the this aspect of your self could well be the missing link to your total therapy and healing.