Personal Narrative Traumatic Events in My Family Essay

So, I got lost in the middle of Silverwood in Idaho with my little cousin…

They kept their promise and on January 29, 2010 Tamara Emily Persell was born. I remember it as if it was yesterday and consider it one of the happiest days of my life; however with the little bundle of joy that we as a family lovingly call Toma, came a lot of responsibilities and life in the household was never the same. Before that time my mom did everything around the house and was too involved in my life. After Toma came home, each of us took on part of the chores, helping out with the laundry, cooking and cleaning. Also after her birth I was not the only child anymore and was not on the top everybody’s priority list. I remember feeling more free than ever before, since all the attention was finally lifted off. This also contributed to my entering of adulthood, since all of a sudden I had more responsibilities and freedom than ever before. This experience taught me valuable life

Throughout life I’ve experienced a rather unpleasant childhood with the absence of my guiding figures: my parents. Seeing them rush in and out of the house to go to the hospital with my younger brother shaped me in a way nothing else could have. It made me who I am today, as well as aspired me towards what I want to be one day.

As I revisit my past, I realize that every decision I made created a rough road for my passage into adulthood. I became a waitress at 15 years old; which at that time was considered the second most stressful job in America, the first being Air Traffic Controller. Additionally, I quit school at 16 years old; needing more time to be able to support myself. Moreover, I began a relationship with a man that was ten years older than me. These three major decisions in my life created complicated life options in my adult life. For instance, when I turned 44 years old, being a server severely damaged my back; causing me to endure back surgery; thus, giving me few career choices until I can retire. Lastly, my selection in a mate resulted in having a baby; which changed every aspect for the rest of my

Anyone who deals regularly with victims of trauma or is exposed to graphic pictures or text of trauma, can experience the effects of secondary or vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma (VT) will affect thinking, while secondary traumatic stress (STS), or compassion fatigue, affects feelings and behavior of the counselor. The purpose of this paper is to discuss man-made or natural disasters as well as personal trauma, and the counselor’s role in these situations. Skills to help the counselor deal with the effects of vicarious trauma will also be discussed in this assignment.

Even as my older brothers were failing their classes and disrespecting my parents, I continued to set and achieve my goals while still being a pillar for my family. Even though I didn't have the same opportunities as my peers, I still enrolled and excelled at some of the hardest courses throughout middle school and high school. Even though we have introduced and gave home to two younger boys to our family and have shifted the balance once again, I still managed to maintain an aire of normalcy and maintain my grades. Even with three older siblings who have barely passed high school and one who didn’t finish at all, I am still going to be the first go to college and I do have lofty ambitions which I do plan to accomplish. Even though nobody could probably fathom or understand what I’ve been through, what I’ve seen, what I’ve felt, I am determined to not let that hinder me, and to make a future for myself without

As the oldest of three siblings, I have had to do many things for myself that my younger brother and sister had done for them. For example, I had to fend for myself in attempting to obtain a driver’s license even paying someone to teach me to drive and take me to the exam, while my siblings had help from my mother in all aspects of the process. Also, the loss of my father has resulted in conflicts with the remaining parent, my mother. These conflicts were the result of economic struggle and disagreements about how to spend the monetary benefits left from my father’s passing. The position in my family as first‐born combined with the conflicts in my family, have led to life‐changing decisions such where to live, and what careers to pursue.

The terms compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma, often termed secondary trauma, occur during the helping process through empathic engagement with individuals who have experienced trauma. Social workers may experience this type of trauma which can result in symptoms mirroring post-traumatic stress disorder (Hesse, 2002). Resulting knowledge of traumatic experiences by a client can be detrimental to the mental health of social workers and therapists by causing stress from the desire to help. Although compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma are similar in terms of the resulting specific behaviors and emotions exhibited by professionals as a result of exposure to clients with traumatic experiences, they differ in terms of how they develop. Vicarious

I slowly cut the heart out of the folded paper and held it up to the light. The edges were jagged and uneven; I tossed it in my growing pile of scrap paper. My hands were stained with marker and my hair was covered in glitter. It was bedtime and I was not even halfway done with the valentines for my third-grade class. I wanted my cards to look great- better than store-bought. I was so frustrated that tears welled in my eyes. The next morning, defeated, I went to CVS with my mom to buy cards. Everyone liked the Kit-Kat bars taped to the backs.

While as a culture, we’ve brought to light many things that were formerly kept silent, the issue of childhood trauma is one that still remains under-explored, and under-represented. The pervasiveness of childhood physical and sexual abuse is something that many remain unaware of, despite the fact that the long-term effects of mistreatment are ones that remain with the victim for years after. Post traumatic stress is a disorder that has received more attention in recent years, as researchers and citizens alike have come to recognize the reality that wars, and natural disasters are far from the only causes of post traumatic stress disorder. While the treatments and diagnostic criteria for PTSD have evolved over the years to encompass more accurate and extensive symptoms, the diagnosis itself remains one that is more relevant for those who’ve experienced singular or infrequent traumatic events in early adulthood and beyond. Those who’ve been exposed to chronic and long-term abuse, particularly in the early formative years of life when the brain and its mechanisms are still developing, experience a wide-range of symptoms that the PTSD diagnosis does not encompass. It is for this reason, that extensive research has been done on the effects of chronic and long-term abuse.

Deondray Ashe known to family and friends as “Dooley” was two-years old when he died on June 14, 2010 of blunt force trauma. Deondray was found dead in his home and aside from blunt force trauma had many injuries on his body. The event leading to his death was failure in properly using the bathroom. Marcus Brown was home with Deondray, and Deondray was apparently misbehaving, and did not want to use the bathroom. Investigators found that the day Deondray died, the stepfather was frustrated with him, for not been potty trained. The autopsy showed that he had twenty-eight injuries to the head, belt marks on his body, and other abrasions. Deondray’s stepfather Marcus brown, was charge on first-degree murder and other charges. A brief while after her husband was arrested, Ina Brown was also charge on aggravated

Everything was about to change, we wouldn’t order take-out on Sundays, it was a big deal, I was losing my best friend, the only father figure I have ever had so far. I watched him taking all of his stuff out of the apartment, I was getting more and more mad. Wasn’t our beautiful relationship enough to make him stay? I even blame myself I thought I had done something wrong, maybe wearing his clothes and leaving them all messy, I apologize and swear not to do it again, but it didn’t matter the decision was already made.

My autobiographical event that is important to me is when my uncle picked my dad and I up in the family truck. It all started when my uncle knocked on the door asking for my dad and I. He said get in the truck were going for a ride, And of course we got in thinking we're gonna have a talk or something like that. Then he turns into the river and we start freaking out because we've never been in the river when it was flowing especially when the water was that deep. So were driving in the shallow area and it starts getting deeper and soon the whole hood is under water he stomps on the gas pedal, The truck catches traction and starts doing a wheelie, We start creeping out of the water and then the truck stops and is sinking down. We shut the truck

I never really thought about where my life was going. I always believed life took me where I wanted to go, I never thought that I was the one who took myself were I wanted to go. Once I entered high school I changed the way I thought. This is why I chose to go to college. I believe that college will give me the keys to unlock the doors of life. This way I can choose for myself where I go instead of someone choosing for me.

Life sometimes seems scary. The fear of failure and the fear of the unknown make a person rethink its choices and goals, this happens all the time. As time passes, be days, moths, years or only simply one experience can change our whole vision of the world, about life, about what really matters and consequently about our goals. Throughout my whole life I have questioned so many aspects of my life, of existence, and consequently about my future. I never stopped wanting to achieve something big, that could change the whole world, some amazing adventure that would be the one thing that would give birth to all the amazing things that could happen next. As time passed I realized that life itself is one big adventure, and that what I will do every day will matter for me and for the people around me. I realized that life is not some perfect movie where there are good guys, bad guys and that in the end of one amazing journey everything would be solved. It may be a childish vision of the world, but it had motivated me for years to do the thing I believed would help me achieve this, and to believe in myself. Obviously as I grew up, I saw what the world really looked like, that sacrifices have to be made, that there are things which no one can control, that if I want something I have to work really hard. In today society everything counts.