Trauma is a complex and deeply personal experience that often leaves survivors feeling isolated, overwhelmed, and in pain. We hope these trauma quotes from survivors, therapists, and researchers help you feel seen and understood.
For many, it isn’t just a chapter in life that can be closed but a part of the present that shows up unexpectedly, influencing thoughts, emotions, and physical well-being.
While the path forward may not be easy, you are not alone in this journey. We chose each quote to help validate your experiences and feelings while inspiring a sense of resilience and healing.
If you’re reading this and need something to ground you (help regulate your nervous system) in this moment, here are three simple actions you can try:
Take three deep, mindful breaths: Let each exhale release a little tension, and remind yourself that you’re here, in this moment.
Find an object that brings you comfort or strength: Whether it’s a photo, a piece of jewelry, or something soft to hold, connect with something that brings a sense of safety.
Write down one supportive message to yourself: It could be a reminder of your strength, a simple affirmation, or a few words acknowledging your courage.
Whether you’re looking for comfort, understanding, or a spark of hope, we hope at least one of these quotes will resonate with where you are today.
Trauma Survivors: Quotes From The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score sheds light on how trauma is stored within the body, manifesting in physical and emotional ways that survivors may not fully understand.
These trauma quotes explore how trauma impacts both the mind and the body, revealing that healing requires more than just mental acknowledgment; it involves reconnecting with and understanding one’s bodily sensations.
For trauma survivors, these words offer insight into why they may feel disconnected or unsafe in their skin and emphasize the importance of gentle, body-based healing methods to reclaim a sense of safety and self.
“Feeling out of control, survivors of trauma often begin to fear that they are damaged to the core and beyond redemption.” ― Bessel A. van der Kolk
“Trauma produces actual physiological changes, including a recalibration of the brain’s alarm system, an increase in stress hormone.” ― Bessel A. van der Kolk
“Once those protectors trust that it is safe to separate, the Self will spontaneously emerge, and the parts can be enlisted in the healing process.” ― Bessel A. van der Kolk
“When you activate your gut feelings and listen to your heartbreak—when you follow the interoceptive pathways to your innermost recesses—things begin to change.” ― Bessel A. van der Kolk
“The body keeps the score: If trauma is encoded in heartbreaking and gut-wrenching sensations, then our first priority is to help people move out of fight-or-flight states, reorganize their perception of danger, and manage relationships.” ― Bessel A. van der Kolk
“However, traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. Their bodies are constantly bombarded by visceral warning signs, and, in an attempt to control these processes, they often become experts at ignoring their gut feelings and in numbing awareness of what is played out inside. They learn to hide from their selves.” ― Bessel A. van der Kolk
Powerful Quotes About Acknowledging Trauma
These trauma quotes offer validation and empathy for the experiences that come with trauma. They help you feel seen and understood, emphasizing that acknowledging pain is the first step toward healing.
By recognizing what you’ve been through, especially with childhood trauma, you can begin the journey to processing and ultimately moving forward.
“What cannot be said will be wept.” — Sappho
“The greatest damage of trauma is not the event itself but the absence of an empathic witness.” — Gabor Maté
“Healing begins with acknowledgment. When you validate your pain, the journey of healing can begin.” — Unknown
“Trauma creates change you don’t choose. Healing is about creating the change you do choose.” — Michelle Rosenthal
“Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives.” — Akshay Dubey
“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.” — Peter Levine
“The paradox of trauma is that it has both the power to destroy and the power to transform and resurrect.” — Peter A. Levine
“If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.” — Brené Brown
“One day, you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through, and it will be someone else’s survival guide.” — Brené Brown
“Unlike simple stress, trauma changes your view of your life and yourself. It shatters your most basic assumptions about yourself and your world.” ― Mark Goulston MD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder For Dummies
Trauma Quotes on Healing and Recovery
Healing after trauma is a gradual journey, often filled with setbacks and small victories. These trauma quotes remind you that recovery is a process and that taking it one day at a time is okay.
They highlight the importance of patience and self-compassion, showing that healing can unfold slowly and gently.
“Healing is about finding a new way to feel safe in this world.” — Unknown
“Healing is an art. It takes time, it takes practice, and it takes love.” — Maza Dohta
“Our wounds are the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us.” — David Richo
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” — Helen Keller
“Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.” — Peter A. Levine
“Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.” — Tori Amos
“The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.” — Caroline Myss
“You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.” — Dan Millman
“Healing is not an overnight process. It is a daily cleansing of pain, it is a daily healing of your life.” — Leon Brown
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.” — Brené Brown
Trauma Quotes About Tapping Into Your Inner Strength
These quotes about trauma are for those moments when resilience feels hard to muster.
They emphasize the strength needed to overcome trauma and inspire courage, even when the journey feels overwhelming.
This collection speaks to the inner strength and perseverance that grow as you face and overcome challenges.
“It’s okay to struggle. You’re doing better than you think.” — Unknown
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” — Margaret Thatcher
“You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” — Bob Marley
“Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up.” — Brené Brown
“Strength grows in the moments when you think you can’t go on but you keep going anyway.” — Unknown
“Surviving is the ability to walk through the darkness and still keep moving towards the light.” — Unknown
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” — Kahlil Gibran
“The human capacity for burden is like bamboo—far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.” — Jodi Picoult
“Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” — Rikki Rogers
“The pain of trauma can be the catalyst for personal growth, leading us to discover inner strength and resilience we never knew we possessed.” — Judith Lewis Herman
Trauma Quotes on The Power of Letting Go
Letting go can feel like an impossible task, especially when the past feels like it has a hold on you.
These quotes offer gentle encouragement to release what no longer serves you, creating space for healing. They remind you that letting go isn’t about forgetting but about freeing yourself from the weight of the past.
“To heal a wound, you need to stop touching it.” — Unknown
“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” — Will Rogers
“If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment.” — Carlos Santana
“Scars remind us where we’ve been. They don’t have to dictate where we’re going.” — David Rossi
“Letting go doesn’t mean you forget the memories. It means you stop letting them control you.” — Unknown
“Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.” — Eckhart Tolle
“You can’t change what’s going on around you until you start changing what’s going on within you.” — Unknown
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” — C.S. Lewis
“Trauma creates change you don’t choose. Healing is about creating change you do choose.” — Michelle Rosenthal
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Finding Meaning and Growth in Your Experience
These trauma quotes reflect on the possibility of growth and transformation that can arise from hardship.
They offer a reminder that even after pain and brokenness, there can be new beginnings, wisdom, and resilience.
This collection speaks to the idea that trauma doesn’t define you. Rather, it can be a part of a larger journey toward becoming who you’re meant to be.
“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” — Oprah Winfrey
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.” — Rumi
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” — Jon Kabat-Zinn
“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” — Kenji Miyazawa
“In order to rise from its own ashes, a phoenix first must burn.” — Octavia Butler
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” — Zen Proverb
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” — Vivian Greene
“In the process of letting go, you will lose many things from the past, but you will find yourself.” — Deepak Chopra
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” — Anaïs Nin
“Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” — Arthur Golden
Understanding Trauma is More Than Talking About Mental Illness
Trauma is a deeply personal experience that reaches beyond the labels of mental health issues and touches the very core of who we are.
Healing from trauma isn’t just about addressing symptoms. It’s about reconnecting with our inner strength, rebuilding trust in ourselves, and reclaiming peace.
Trauma recovery is often a long, winding road that requires patience, self-compassion, and time.
These quotes serve as gentle reminders that the healing journey, although unique, is shared by many. The healing process is worth it, even if it doesn’t always look how we expect.
Take what resonates from these words, and let go of what doesn’t. This is your journey, your own body and mind, and you have the strength to navigate it at your own pace.
Let us know, in the comment section, if a particular quote made you feel like you are moving closer to reclaiming your peace and resilience. We would also love to help you share your story with our readers.