Reclaiming Identity After Trauma

Trauma does not just wound the body. It reshapes how a person sees themselves.

Especially for Black and Indigenous survivors — whose identities are already formed within systems of racism, colonization, erasure, and survival — trauma can make the self feel scattered, broken, or unfamiliar.

This subtopic explores what it means to reclaim identity after trauma, reconnect with the parts of yourself that were silenced, and rebuild a sense of self that is rooted, whole, and yours.

How Trauma Disrupts Identity

When a person experiences trauma — especially interpersonal trauma such as abuse, sexual violence, neglect, or racialized harm — the nervous system reorganizes around survival (Van der Kolk, 2014). This often creates identity wounds, including:

• A sense of “not knowing who I am”
• Feeling broken, defective, or “too much”
• Feeling disconnected from cultural or ancestral roots
• Shame about needs, desires, or boundaries
• Feeling unworthy of love or belonging
• Dissociation from one’s own emotions or body
• Hypervigilance about how others see you
• Losing connection to personal dreams or purpose

These are not character flaws. They are survival adaptations.

When safety is threatened, the mind and body prioritize staying alive — meaning identity development pauses, fragments, or becomes shaped by protection rather than authenticity.

Identity Trauma Within Black & Indigenous Communities

Trauma exists within a historical and cultural context. Identity wounds are often layered:

For Black communities:

Centuries of enslavement, racial terror, forced family separation, medical experimentation, and ongoing structural racism have deeply shaped identity development.

This history has produced identity patterns such as:

• Code-switching for survival
• Internalized racism
• Self-doubt shaped by white supremacy
• Feeling pressure to be “strong” at all times
• Shame around emotional expression
• Hyper-independence as self-protection
• Feeling disconnected from ancestral heritage

These patterns are not personal failings — they are responses to collective trauma that has been carried for generations.

For Indigenous communities:

Boarding schools, outlawed ceremonies, stolen languages, land loss, sexual violence in colonizing institutions, and ongoing displacement have shaped Indigenous identity in profound ways.

This history can create:

• Loss of cultural grounding
• Shame around ancestry
• Silence around trauma
• Fear of being seen as “too Native” or “not Native enough”
• Identity fragmentation due to relocation or assimilation
• Disconnection from land, which is central to identity

Healing identity for Indigenous survivors is deeply tied to reconnecting with land, language, ceremony, and ancestors.

Identity Through the Lens of Black Racial Identity Development

For Black clients, understanding trauma-related identity disruption is strengthened by naming racial identity development models — especially:

Cross (Nigrescence) Model

A widely recognized model explaining how Black identity evolves, particularly after experiences of racism or racialized trauma.

Stages include:

• Pre-Encounter: Devaluation or distancing from Blackness
• Encounter: Trauma or racial awakening disrupts worldview
• Immersion/Emersion: Deep exploration of Black identity
• Internalization: Integration of self-worth and cultural pride
• Internalization-Commitment: Identity expands into purpose and community engagement

Trauma — especially racial trauma — can “freeze” someone at earlier stages of identity development, particularly Pre-Encounter or Encounter, where shame, confusion, and disorientation can dominate.

Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI)

This model acknowledges that Black identity includes:

• Centrality (How important is being Black to me?)
• Regard (How positively or negatively do I feel about being Black?)
• Ideology (What does being Black mean in my worldview — cultural nationalism, assimilation, Afrocentric, etc.?)

Trauma, especially sexual trauma layered with racism, can profoundly disrupt these domains.

Using these models in therapy validates survivors’ experiences and helps rebuild a culturally grounded, self-defined identity.

Identity Fragmentation vs. Identity Loss

Survivors often confuse fragmentation with loss. But these are different.

Identity Fragmentation is when:

• Parts of the self feel hidden
• You shift roles depending on who you're around
• Emotions and memories feel separated
• You feel “different versions” of yourself
• Trauma activates younger versions of you

Identity Loss is when:

• You no longer recognize yourself
• Trauma overshadows your self-image
• Shame takes up the space where identity used to be
• Dreams and desires feel unreachable
• You can’t access your inner voice

Both are reversible. Both respond to healing. Both are understandable outcomes of harm.

Reclaiming Identity: What Healing Looks Like

Identity healing is not about going “back” to who you were — it’s about becoming who you were always meant to be.

At Little River Psychological Services, we use dreamwork, culturally rooted exploration, and trauma-informed practices to restore identity after harm.

Key processes include:

Rebuilding Safety in the Body

Identity cannot grow in a body that feels unsafe. Somatic therapy, grounding, and reclaiming sensory experiences help restore a foundation for identity development.

Rewriting Shame Narratives

Shame says:

• “I am the problem.”
• “I caused it.”
• “Something is wrong with me.”

Healing reframes:

• “I survived something I didn’t deserve.”
• “My body protected me.”
• “I am worthy of gentleness.”

Reconnecting With Culture & Ancestry

For Black survivors:

• Reclaiming African-centered psychology
• Learning about ancestral resilience
• Understanding racial identity development
• Exploring spiritual traditions
• Releasing narratives shaped by assimilation

For Indigenous survivors:

• Reconnecting with land
• Reviving ceremony
• Learning tribal language or history
• Reclaiming stories erased by colonization
• Honoring ancestors and community teachings

Identity grows at the intersection of culture, land, and belonging.

Dream-Based Healing

Dreams hold fragments of identity that trauma pushed underground.

Through a trauma-informed, ancestral lens, dreamwork helps clients:

• Reclaim hidden parts of themselves
• Access instincts and intuition
• Experience themselves with less fear
• Understand unmet needs
• Reconnect with memory and imagination

Dreams often show the self that trauma tried to erase.

Integration — Not Perfection

Identity healing is not about becoming “strong” or “unaffected.”

It’s about:

• Being allowed to be fully human
• Reclaiming softness
• Reconnecting with desire
• Honoring emotions
• Building relationships that feel safe
• Allowing yourself to take up space

Integration means bringing all your parts home.

If You Need Support Right Now

• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME or CONNECT to 741741
• Native Text Line: Text NATIVE to 741741
• BlackLine: 1-800-604-5841
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call/text 988
• RAINN (Sexual Assault Hotline): 1-800-656-4673
• IHS Suicide Prevention: https://www.ihs.gov/suicideprevention

References

Helms, J. E. (1995). An update of Helm’s White and people of color racial identity models. In J. G. Ponterotto et al. (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling. 

Cross, W. (1991). Shades of Black: Diversity in African-American identity. Temple University Press. Sellers, R. M., et al. (1998). 

Multidimensional model of racial identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(3), 805–815.

Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score. Viking.