Dana Arcuri
A Brilliant Moment to Expand Ourselves: Body, Mind, & Soul

Today, I am in awe. I am in awe by my hard rock moments that have given me humility. I am in awe by my resilience. I am in awe by my courage and strength to do the grief and trauma recovery work.
I am in awe by the power of the human spirit to rise above trauma. To not let my past abuse define me. To not permit my trauma to dictate my future. I am in awe of how much I have overcome, especially in the past four years.
As a survivor, advocate, and Certified Trauma Recovery Coach, I have explored a wide range of ways to heal. The reality is that there's countless ways to work through and process abuse. For some people, traditional medicine and talk therapy works for them. For others, including myself, a non-traditional approach is far more effective. Simply stated, there are countless healing paths to reduce symptoms, including PTSD, chronic pain, triggers, flashbacks, and trauma. When we are committed to ourselves and our healing journey, we can gradually decrease our negative symptoms. We can improve our lives.
In the early stages of the trauma recovery, it's common to want to talk about your past abuse. You may need to vent. You may need to be heard. You may need to be validated. You may need to be understood.
I've had many clients who I have worked with who need to talk about their abuse over and over again. For some of them, it may take six months to several years of talking about their early childhood abuse, toxic relationships, betrayal, grief, sexual assaults, and trauma before they are ready to shift gears. Remember that healing is not a marathon or overnight event. Rather, healing trauma is for the long term. One reason is because trauma is like an onion. There is one layer after another layer of pain. When we do successfully heal the one layer, then another layer will rise to the surface.
Therefore, healing doesn't have a final destination. I believe that healing is for a lifetime. But it gets easier to manage as we gain more insight, wisdom, and credible tools to help us.
You may spend many years, even decades, rehashing your traumatic events. You may have a lot to get through. There may be bumps in the road. It may not always be smooth sailing.
This is why it's important to seek emotional support by a mental health professional who is trauma-informed and experienced in the exact type of abuse that you've suffered. For example, let's say that you have grown up with a narcissistic parent who habitually abused you, gaslit you, and deeply betrayed you. It's vital that whoever you work with has experience, education, and insight about narcissism.
Otherwise, they are not an ideal fit for you. Therapy with the wrong person can do more harm than good. Use your discretion.
Another factor is that there will be new seasons when you may need to change your method of how you heal. Do what is best for you.
Whether you go the route of traditional therapy or you work with a holistic practitioner, Certified Trauma Recovery Coach, or an energy healer, it must be in alignment with your core beliefs and values. It must be with a person who you trust. If you are not certain if someone's a good fit for you or not, listen to your gut instincts. Pay attention to your body sensations. What is your intuition and body telling you? If you are feeling triggered, that is common. It is a normal trauma response to get triggered in a therapy or coaching session. Don't let your triggers hold you back from doing the trauma recovery work. As the saying goes, "What you resist will persist."
This applies to survivors who permit fear to cause them to quit therapy or coaching. Do not quit before the healing comes. Do not let the discomfort and pain cause you to ignore or bury your traumatic experiences. Instead, face it. Address it. Learn how to process it. Find the strength to move through the discomfort with a trauma-informed professional. If someone is an ideal match for you, they will see you, hear you, understand you, and hold sacred space for you. They will have compassion, empathy, good listening skills, and helpful tools to guide you through the rough patches.
After doing all of the trauma work, you may experience a shift. At first, it may be subtle. Within a few years, it will become louder and clearer. It will reach a point where you can no longer ignore it. There may be divine signs and symbols that show up out of nowhere. A Monarch butterfly. A red cardinal. A rainbow. A mourning dove, hawk, or blue jay. A ladybug. Angelic encounters.
We are not merely human beings. We have a physical body who has a soul. "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." ~ CS Lewis
You may start seeing signs and symbols in your sleep state as you dream. Oftentimes, in your sleep there will be something vivid that will show up for you. Brilliant moments will come through your dreams and subconscious mind. It could be supernatural insight. An inner knowing. Intuitive knowledge. A gut feeling about something. Or perhaps, you are seeing numbers, colors, shapes, or hearing words in your dreams? Over the past four years, I've had the most phenomenal insights during my sleep. As an empath and Highly Sensitive Person who has several spiritual gifts, I am never surprised when I receive answers in my sleep. My soul intuitively knows what is best for me.
If you sincerely want to heal after abuse, it will require you to detox. You will most likely go through a detoxification process. For each one of us, it could look a bit different.
However, it will involve purging people, places, and things in your life. It will take you outside your comfort zone. Sometimes, it won't feel good. Yet, it is essential. Here's some of the things you may detox:
Painful Memories
Triggers
Flashbacks
The Narcissist
Flying Monkeys
Perpetrators
Toxic Relationships
Manipulative People
Medicine
Alcohol
Things that don't serve you or your highest good
Talking about your past abuse
Reliving your traumatic events
Rehashing your grief and loss
Trying to make sense out of the crazy-making nonsense
Repeatedly talking about your abuse
To talk about things that insult your soul
There's a saying, "If you keep doing what you've always done, then you'll keep on getting what you've always got." Does this resonate with you? Dear Soul, are you weary? Have you become exhausted and drained? If so, perhaps, it is time to do something new? To try another therapeutic strategy? To look outside the box?
For your trauma recovery, you will eventually reach a new place. You will not be the same person you had once been. You will have a new perspective. You will have gained wisdom. You will become more compassionate. You will finally shift into a whole new empowered version of yourself.
This major transformation will place you on a totally new pathway. This is where the magic is. This is the brilliant moment of expansion. It will deeply impact your life on every level. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually. Not just on the 3D physical realm, but also on the 4D and 5D realm.
You can transform yourself from the inside out. Your transformation is like a chrysalis who had once been stuck in the dark cocoon.
Like the butterfly, you will transmute. This is your metamorphosis. You will grow. You will dramatically change.
And one day, you will burst forth as a beautiful butterfly with wings. You will soar high. You will inspire others. And you will touch people's lives in such a powerful way.
"Perhaps the butterfly is proof that you can go through a great deal of darkness and still become something beautiful." ~ Author unknown

I am excited to share what's happening in my life. After four intense years of doing the grief and trauma recovery work, I have officially reached a brilliant moment. I am not mad. I am simply done. I am done talking about what hurt me. I'm done rehashing my past abuse. I am done talking about sexual abuse. I am done talking about sibling abuse. I am done talking about narcissistic abuse. I am done talking about family estrangement. I am done talking about all of this on my YouTube channel.
I AM DONE...
The good news is that I have moved into a new season of life. I am embracing this new chapter. It is filled with hope, love, peace, and joy. It is focused on uplifting thoughts, positive energy, and abundance.
This is my season of rest. To be still. To unplug from YouTube. To relish this calming, tranquil moment. A season of inner peace. A season of reevaluation of what's best for me.
A season of trusting my gut instincts. To embrace my intuitive hits. A season to focus on my expansion. It is well with my soul.