Self-love after trauma doesn’t always look like affirmations, glowing skin, or yoga at sunrise. Sometimes, it’s not answering the phone. Sometimes, it’s letting yourself cry for no clear reason. Sometimes, it’s admitting you’re still angry.
The commercial version of self-love often ignores what it takes to rebuild trust with yourself — especially when trauma has taught you to disconnect from your own needs. For many survivors, “loving yourself” is a radical, unfamiliar, even uncomfortable process.
But what if you didn’t have to feel good to be good to yourself?
This post unpacks what real, grounded self-love looks like in the wake of trauma. It might involve boundaries that disappoint others. Habits that no one else sees. Decisions that look selfish on the outside but are actually survival on the inside.
There is no universal roadmap. But there is a way forward that feels like coming home — to the you that was never broken, just burdened. Self-love isn’t the goal. It’s the evidence that healing is working.