How to Find Meaning in Difficult Times?

“When we know our ‘why’, we can bear almost any ‘how’…” A trauma therapist from the FENIKS team refers to a well-known quote by Nietzsche and reflects on how even a traumatic experience can carry value.

Our psyche has protective mechanisms that help us adapt to reality. When we face something large in scale, duration, or intensity — such as war, a pandemic, revolution, or repression — internal processes are triggered that help us not only survive physically, but also preserve our mental health.

In traumatic situations, we may experience a wide range of emotions — and we may process them very differently. What’s important to remember is: any feeling is a normal response to abnormal circumstances.

Any traumatic event launches an internal process of meaning-making.

We begin to ask ourselves all sorts of questions and search for answers.

In this search, we may turn to the experience of previous generations, to others around us, to art, books, and beyond. We reexamine our values — reaffirm them, reshape them, or discover new ones. We become more attuned to our environment: better recognizing who feels “like our people,” and distancing ourselves from those whose values feel foreign or harmful.

Every crisis can become a sponsor of our personal growth and development.