Radical Genuineness: Healing the Loss of Identity After Trauma

Radical genuineness is the value of being real or true to oneself through and through. You’re true to yourself to the core: how you think about yourself, how you consider yourself, and how you act, speak, and express yourself. Trauma makes this skill challenging for people. When survivors of trauma are stuck in survival mode, whether that’s fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, our brains are constantly thinking of strategies to stay alive and reduce harm, not necessarily on how to relate or express ourselves. Radical genuineness can be a powerful, healing skill that facilitates encountering and expressing ourselves.