The .01% trauma recovery paradigm.

You need to know that realistic, sustainable trauma recovery doesn’t happen in one flash or breakthrough. 

It happens in increments. We notice it in increments. 

We don’t “recover,” and then suddenly stop experiencing trauma responses. I wish it was like that. 

What does happen is, we catch ourselves in the midst of having a trauma response, and we begin to remember tools we’ve developed to deal with them. 

Even then: the tools won’t work perfectly, and the trauma response won’t suddenly disappear— but what will happen is, the trauma response will resolve more quickly than it would have otherwise. 

This is how real world recovery works. Incrementally. 

Don’t get me wrong: there will be times when we do experience breakthroughs, and we will take certain steps in our recovery that are significant— where we are aware that we’ve experienced significant movement or improvement. 

But most of the time, what we’re shooting for are .01% shifts in how we handle the reactivity of our traumatized nervous system— which can be, by definition, unpredictable. 

Why is it important to be clear about this, to remind ourselves of this daily, in our trauma recovery? 

Because, in my experience, trauma recovery is f*cking exhausting and discouraging. 

We suffer for so long— and, if you’re anything like me, while you’re suffering, you develop this fantasy of learning a skill or tool or having a breakthrough, and everything suddenly being different. 

Then, when we get into the sh*t, we’re reminded of how f*cking impossible this whole “recovery” thing can feel. 

That’s when we need to remember: this “recovery” thing is NOT dependent upon breakthroughs or miracles. 

If we can remember, when we’re in the sh*t, that all we’re shooting for is incremental improvement, handling this trauma response .01% better than the last one— that changes our approach to managing the trauma response in front of us. 

One of the toughest practical tasks in trauma recovery is managing our expectations— and dealing with the hopelessness that feeling so overwhelmed, so often, can lead to. 

Keeping in mind the .01% improvement paradigm is essential to managing expectations and combatting that hopelessness. 

Understand: I want more than .01% improvement for you. I want you constantly building and developing and refining your skillset. The goal is not to STOP at .01% improvement. 

Again: the practical reason I want you reminding yourself every single day of the .01% paradigm is because it is a focus-directing tool that keeps us in the game when we might otherwise be pressured to give up. 

.01% increments add up. In fact, they do more than add up: they multiply. They increase exponentially— if we can stay in the game.

Managing expectations and hopelessness is a threshold issue in trauma recovery. If we can’t manage these predictable vulnerabilities, it won’t matter what tools we develop— we will not be sufficiently motivated or focused to use them. 

It matters, a lot, how we think about and how we talk to ourselves about the pace and timing of our trauma recovery. Our self talk and mental focus are not abstract variables here. They come directly to bear on our daily functioning. 

Remind yourself of the .01% paradigm at least daily— and as often as needed during trauma responses. 

And then focus on the .01% movement that will make the most realistic difference for you, today.