Learning to Trust Yourself After Childhood Trauma

Journal Prompt:

1. Make a list of negative beliefs you have about yourself.

2. From the list in #1, are any of them true? Do you have proof to support them true or a lie?

3. Take each belief about yourself from your list, and rewrite it as a positive belief. 

(Example: “I’m too stupid to make decisions for myself” becomes “I sometimes make mistakes, but I have made smart decisions for myself,” Include and example of this to support your new belief.)

4. Here are some actions you can do to begin developing self-trust:

5. Say no when you mean no. Don’t do things you don’t want to do just to keep someone else happy.

6. Make a decision without asking for anyone else’s approval.

7. Recognize when you don’t feel comfortable in a situation and explore why you are having those feelings. Then act on those feelings so that you are comfortable.

8. When you make a mistake, don’t listen to the old beliefs. Remind yourself that you are human and all humans make mistakes. The important thing is what you do about that mistake. 

9. Recognize what you need, and don’t abandon those needs for someone else’s.

10. Follow through on commitments to yourself. You deserve your attention and support. 

11. Think about a situation where your childhood beliefs interfered with what you wanted or needed. Choose one of the items in #4 that you could have done to improve that situation. This will help you have ideas for what to do in the future when that belief comes up again.