You Don’t Need To Be Fully Healed To Help Others — You Just Need To Be One Step Ahead
By: Alexandria Thibodeaux
Tags: Trauma, Gaslighting, Trauma Recovery, Personal Development, Personal Growth

Don’t gaslight yourself into thinking you're unable to serve & help others!

Photo by John Malley

A dangerous form of insecurity and imposter syndrome that thwarts our endless potential to abundantly help, support, and serve others is the false belief that we don’t possess the skills necessary to do so because we are still on our own healing and growth journey — this is a belief of sheer folly!

The truth: there are copious ways to help people emotionally, spiritually, and physically — not despite our continued healing, but rather, in conjunction with it. Because in actuality, there is no linear, timed path to personal healing.

The depths of emotional healing takes fierce commitment, time, emotional and physical energy. And in the process of our healing, we are learning and growing; it would be a disservice to yourself and to others to withhold the knowledge you have gained from your healing journey for fear of being invaluable in helping those who are on their healing journeys. We all need help sometimes, we need help from others. In the wise and profound words of Parks and Recreation character, Leslie Knope:

“No one achieves anything alone.”

We human beings need each other, it’s part of the fabric of our nature and need for survival. Apply what you’re learning to help others, even if you still have more to learn — we all still have more to learn! And, we always will — that’s the magic in helping others at any point we feel we have something to offer, share, or teach as a means to help someone grow.

Experience gives you agency!⁣

An organic experience(s) of your own, meaning your organic, personal healing journey, gives you:

knowledge

influence

authority

⁣If you have developed skills that you believe make you a well-informed, learned person of personal healing, that is valid and justified.

⁣So don’t gaslight yourself!

For example, I am smack in the middle of my own healing journey from past traumas, which I lovingly like to call my Identity Rebirth and Cultural Renaissance, and yet I still serve as an effective coach in helping other survivors of psychological trauma to navigate life from a place of self-acceptance and operate via fierce intuition, unwavering self-respect, and complete authenticity. I am able to do this because I have dedicated myself to my own growth and have abundantly learned and continue to learn new, fruitful ways to flourish and thrive in this life. And, I use the unique knowledge I’ve gained from my personal experiences in healing, learning, and growing in tandem with my innately unique gifts skills to implement this effort with purpose and love — we ALL have this ability and opportunity!

Just think of all the times you have learned something useful in applying to your life, from someone else, whether it be someone you know personally or someone who has shared their knowledge and teachings in the form of writing or speaking, who was still on their journey to personal healing and personal growth. Brené Brown is a perfect example! She says while she is an expert in vulnerability, she herself hates vulnerability and is not great at it — it’s a lifelong practice for her. And that’s just it: healing and growing is a practice, it takes consistent effort and dedication. It takes both faithful attempts at learning and personal achievements. AND, that commitment alone to your healing and growth warrants your worth and ability to serve and guide others.

Something as fundamental as deeply, intently, and empathetically listening to someone share their reality is the antidote needed to effectively support them. This is a skill many do not possess — don’t underestimate its power.

You are worthy and able to serve and help others! Honor your experiences, honor yourself, and honor others by owning what your experiences have taught you and how they’ve fostered the thriving authority you are today!

⁣This is also one effective way to nourish self-reverence.

We are all necessary pieces to our shared human puzzle. Regardless of age, social status, or individual experiences, we each possess gifts to offer our global community as a means to support each other as a collective.

Speak up and share! The world needs you!