‘The Story of 2024 Starts with a Reflective and Compassionate Pause’

By the Trauma-Informed Systems Integration team

With the turn of the page from one year to the next, a common question we ask ourselves and others is “what is your resolution?” For some, the new year can be the kickstart needed to implement desired change. For others, this can feel like pressure and an exercise in futility. And, for someone who has experienced trauma, this experience may be even more complex.

If you endured trauma and experience lingering impacts, such as a push to overly control or a sense of not being able to control, have compassion for yourself.

While you can’t undo the past or control everything around you, you can:

1. Experience healing, especially through safe, stable and nurturing relationships.

2. Identify and prioritize making SMART goals.

3. Set boundaries that help you to feel safe, achieve balance and promote your resilience.

Greater success can be achieved through reflecting and being gentle, compassionate and honest with oneself before setting SMART goals as the blueprint for any desired action.

As you write the 366 (leap year!) pages in the story of 2024, make time, periodically, to pause and reflect. Recognize, honor, and take pride in the skills, strengths, supports and determination that have helped you to survive and thrive, not just in 2023, but throughout your life and as this new chapter unfolds.

As you plan the year ahead, consider the following:

• What changes, if any, are truly needed and will serve you in achieving personal, professional, health, spiritual and other goals?

• Should you continue pursuing a past goal?

• Should you set your sights on a new endeavor?

• Should you check off those “one-and-done” items that seem to linger on your to-do list?

Reflect on the costs and benefits to making a change and not making a change. Be flexible and reassess as you and your life story evolve. Tap into available trainings, offerings through the County’s Employee Wellness Program (like produce shipped to your home), and/or benefits of the Employee Assistance Program.  And, most importantly, connect with your people, the support needed when starting something new or simply carrying on.

Whatever your story, be sure to periodically take that key step in determining what you truly want and need…a reflective and compassionate pause. 

Want to learn more? Here are several articles and resources that can help you start 2024:

• We all Have Trauma, But How Do You Control Its Effects?

• How Chronic Trauma Can Make a Person Controlling

• How Trauma Impacts Your Sense of Self

• Control As a Trauma Response: Knowing You Were Powerless Helps You Heal

• 12 Ways To Be Gentle with Yourself

• This New Year’s Set Goals, Not Resolutions

• Decisional Balance Worksheet

• Countywide Training

• Employee Wellness Program

• Employee Assistance Program

What’s Post-Traumatic Growth?

By the Trauma-Informed System Integration team at the County of San Diego

Post-traumatic growth (PTG) refers to positive psychological changes after experiencing trauma. It can lead to personal development, greater appreciation for life, increased empathy and resilience, and a sense of purpose.

PTG is not linear and not everyone who experiences trauma will necessarily experience growth.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness practices, and expressive writing can foster PTG, and social support is critical.

PTG highlights human resilience and provides hope that positive outcomes can arise from trauma.

By promoting PTG, we can help individuals move beyond the negative impacts of trauma and toward personal growth.

Learn the Science of PACEs

By the County’s Trauma-informed Systems Integration team

Here at the County, we use the science of Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences (PACEs) to support our County's Trauma-Informed Systems Integration. Being trauma-informed means acknowledging that trauma is prevalent and has an impact on behavior and relationships.

No matter what our life experiences are, learning about the science of PACEs can help us thrive in our roles at work, and at home. Building on the evidence-based knowledge that the brain is elastic and the body wants to heal, we can actively practice compassion, understanding, and promote resilience-building. 

Learn more about PACEs

If you are interested in helping on the County's Trauma-Informed Systems Integration committee, learn more here.