From a Bad Trip to a Good Trip: Trauma as a Catalyst for Symbolization
- Sabrina B.
- Aug 30
- 5 min read
This article is based on analyses of recent scientific journals concerning the functioning of the brain and therapies that aim to remodel it to treat mental disorders.
Every existence is punctuated by moments of suffering, loss, or injury. Faced with these challenges, the most common response is avoidance: we try to forget, minimize, or escape these painful emotions. But modern psychology has highlighted that the path to healing lies not in forgetting, but in confronting them. A key concept, which has resurfaced with the revival of psychedelic-assisted therapies, offers us a fascinating insight into this process: Symbolization . It is not an abstract idea, but a concrete therapeutic skill that allows us to give meaning to suffering and transform it into strength.
“Unsymbolized trauma is an unfinished story that continues to play out in the background of our lives.”
This article explores this process of Symbolization to show you how any traumatic or painful experience can become a source of profound healing, provided it is named, framed, and integrated into our story. Far from minimizing pain, this work teaches us that trauma does not have to be our destiny, but can become the breeding ground for our greatest growth.
Unsymbolized Trauma: The Weight of an Unfinished Story
When we experience a painful event, our mind and body struggle to process it. The experience remains raw, meaningless, and often manifests as what is called experiential avoidance . This defense mechanism involves actively avoiding unpleasant emotions, thoughts, or memories. We avoid thinking about the event, we avoid places that bring us back to it, we try to numb the pain with distractions or addictive mechanisms.
The paradox of avoidance is that, while we think it protects us, it is actually a key factor in maintaining symptoms. By refusing to acknowledge the suffering, we trap it within ourselves. The unsymbolized trauma then becomes an unfinished story that continues to play out in the background of our lives. It manifests as anxiety, repetitive behavior patterns, relationship difficulties, and a feeling of not moving forward. The experience remains an open wound, and our energy is constantly focused on hiding it, rather than healing it.
Symbolization: naming, interpreting, integrating
Symbolization is the therapeutic process that allows us to move from unsymbolized trauma to healing. It is the art of giving meaning, narrative, and space to an experience that previously had none. It is a skill that has been highlighted in cutting-edge therapies, but it is at the heart of all effective psychotherapy.
This process takes place in several stages:
Naming: The first step is to put words to the experience. Trauma, when not symbolized, is often unspeakable or ineffable. The therapist's role is to create a safe space where the patient can finally dare to name what happened, to give a name to their suffering and emotions.
Interpret: Once the experience has been named, the work of interpretation can begin. It's not about finding an "objective" meaning, but about co-constructing a new reading of the event with the therapist. This new perspective allows us to place it in the context of our history and understand its impact on our thought and behavior patterns.
Integrate: The final step is integration. Once the experience is named and interpreted, it is no longer an open wound, but a scar. The patient can then integrate it into their life and personal narrative as a source of strength, not suffering. The experience does not have to define us, but it can become a driving force for our greatest personal growth.
The Role of Therapy: A Framework for Symbolization
Psychotherapy provides the ideal framework for this process of symbolization to take place safely. Different therapeutic approaches use specific tools to facilitate this transformation.
Narrative Therapy is an approach that focuses on storytelling. It helps the patient "retell" their life, detaching themselves from the narrative of suffering to create a new, more meaningful and empowering one. It is a direct exercise in symbolization.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on interpretation. By restructuring dysfunctional thoughts related to trauma, it helps the patient free themselves from fixed thought patterns and create new ones.
Mindfulness creates the mental space necessary for symbolization. By learning to observe one's emotions and thoughts without becoming overwhelmed, one develops the ability to distance oneself from the painful experience in order to name and interpret it.
The effectiveness of psychedelic-assisted therapies is closely linked to this psychotherapeutic work of integration, which allows us to exploit the window of plasticity . But the principle is the same for all therapies: the therapist acts as a catalyst to help you transform nameless suffering into a story of resilience.
From a Bad Trip to a Good Trip: Trauma as a Catalyst for Symbolization
One of the most surprising lessons from psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy concerns the confrontation with psychologically difficult experiences, often referred to as "bad trips." Far from being a failure, these moments of chaos, fear, or disorientation are now perceived as powerful catalysts for healing. The substance works by opening a window of plasticity in the brain, making it temporarily more malleable and conducive to deep work. In this state of expanded consciousness, the therapist guides the patient not to flee from these painful experiences, but to confront them. The "good trip" is not the experience itself, but the result of the work of Symbolization that follows: the patient transforms a traumatic event into a source of understanding and inner strength, integrating the suffering into their life story in a constructive and peaceful way.
Conclusion: From Suffering to Post-Traumatic Growth
Suffering is a universal experience, but Symbolization offers us the opportunity to choose what we do with it. By learning to name the unspeakable, interpret the chaotic, and integrate the painful, we reclaim our own story. This is the path to post-traumatic growth : the process by which an individual, after an ordeal, emerges stronger, wiser, and with a renewed sense of gratitude and meaning.
My goal is to accompany you on this path, to help you symbolize your own story so that it becomes not the source of your greatest fears, but the foundation of your greatest strength.
What is this unfinished story you carry within you? Do you think it's time to name it and begin symbolizing it? If you'd like to explore these questions and begin resetting your mind, I offer online coaching sessions from Monaco to guide you on this path.
Sources:
Berkovich, L. (2021). [Efficacy of psychedelics in psychiatry, a systematic review of the literature]. L’Encephale, 47(4), 376–387. doi: 10.1016/j.encep.2020.12.002.
Berkovitch, L., & Mallet, L. (2021). Psychedelics, psychotherapy and symbolization: a literature review in the field of depression. L'Évolution Psychiatrique, 86(3), 565–577.
Fauvel, B., et al. (2021). [Efficacy of psychedelics in psychiatry: A systematic review]. L'Évolution Psychiatrique, 86(3), e1-e12.
Keywords: Symbolization, Psychotherapy, Trauma, Growth, Healing, Experiential Avoidance.
Art by: Edgar Navarro
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