Through her personal sexual assault story and doing the hard work of trauma therapy, Dr. Carrie explains the #1 thing she got back after healing from her trauma.
Carrie Cadre: I was 21 years old when I was raped, stabbed and kidnapped. One of my biggest triggers after I was attacked was being close to other people. She says trauma therapy is a very unique kind of therapy for someone who's been through trauma. Carrie: The payout is so great.
Hey, Cadre family doctor Carrie here. For those that know my story, I have a pretty horrific sexual assault story, and I'll give you the really brief, really, really brief version of it so that I can explain what I want to talk about today. I was 21 years old when I was stranger, raped, stabbed and kidnapped. And I have used my experience for good in a lot of ways. And one of the things I do with clients is working through triggers. And I was asked recently by someone, what are some of the things I can look forward to when I am done with trauma therapy?
Now, trauma therapy is a very unique kind of therapy. I personally have done EMDR and brain spotting and found them extremely helpful. But there's specific type of therapy for someone who's been through trauma. I highly recommend it. If you've been through trauma, it can be a little bit weird at times, a little bit wacky, but it, it works. It works, guys, trust me. I did a while of EMDR, and it really, it gave me so much benefit. But the number one thing I can tell you is even though it is so hard and it's painful to dig up those traumatic memories, the payout is so great.
So great, because one of my biggest triggers after I was attacked was being close to other people, like physical proximity. I was attacked from behind, and he basically just came out of nowhere and jumped on my back. And so I've had, my most major issue trigger is being in confined spaces with people standing in lines with someone kind of close to my back. Like, the hair on the back of my neck just goes up and my bubble is just very, very large. Right? Like, I just don't like people sitting too close to me.
Standing too close to me. And this was always a challenge because anytime you go in public, that's going to be a trigger, right? Anytime you're standing in line somewhere, that can. That can trigger me. Anytime I go to things like my favorite place in the world, the Minnesota state Fair, like, you're going to be around a lot of people, right? And so you can't escape some of these triggers. And, you know, so there's some triggers that you can just avoid the rest of your life, but some of them related to a trauma you can't escape.
And the freedom that comes from doing that trauma focused therapy, whatever that looks like for you, is so worth it, because I can tell you right now that I can stand in line at a store and not have a full panic attack. I can go to, to the Minnesota State Fair and not have to leave after an hour because people are too close to my back. I have so much more freedom in my life because I did the work, because I was willing to go there and do the hard stuff in that therapy. And then the doors that it has been able to open, for me to be able to go speak at large conferences and have someone come accidentally brush behind me in a crowded space and not freak out, that is so worth it.
That is so worth it. It's like that Mastercard commercial, right? Like, this cost this. This cost this. And this is priceless. Yeah. The cost of trauma therapy is a little bit more pain because you got to dig it up. You got to remember it. You got to go there with your brain, with your body, and, you know, there could be then the actual cost, right, of how much that actually costs you if it's not covered by insurance, stuff like that. Just the emotional baggage that comes up when you go there with your trauma, with that trained therapist.
But the bottom line on that commercial, guys, is priceless is getting back the life that you deserve and the freedom from those triggers, because that, to me, was worth it for me to be able to go do what I want, stand in a crowded elevator and not have to get off on a floor that's not my floor, and be able to do those things and live like a normal human being. Priceless. So I encourage you, if you are on the verge of saying, gosh, I don't know if I want to do it. I don't know if I can go there. It's so painful.
I had one session. It sucked. I get it. I've been there. But think about what is your priceless payout? What is the goal that you want to get to? And just know that you can accomplish that if you do the hard work.
