October has a way of inviting ghosts to the surface.
Skeletons hang in doorways, graveyards glow under porch lights, and cobwebs are strung proudly where we usually sweep them away. Beneath the costumes and candy, Halloween is a ritual of remembrance — a symbolic meeting between the seen and unseen, the living and what still lingers.
For many trauma survivors, this imagery isn’t just seasonal — it’s personal. The mind, after all, keeps its own haunted house.
The Ghosts That Don’t Wear Sheets
Trauma lives in us like a ghost that refuses to be buried. It doesn’t always appear as a memory; sometimes it’s a sound that makes us flinch, a smell that sends us spiraling, or an emptiness that creeps in when the world grows quiet.
We learn to shut the doors and lock the attic, but the house of the body remembers. The nervous system rattles when the wind picks up, even when the danger has long passed.
Halloween reminds us what happens when we stop pretending the ghosts aren’t there. When we invite them to be seen — lit by the orange glow of awareness — they lose their power to terrify. What was once monstrous becomes human again.
Unmasking the Fear
Costumes are part of the healing too. As children, we learn that wearing a mask can make us feel powerful — we can become the witch, the warrior, or the wolf we were once afraid of.
In therapy, we do something similar. We learn to wear courage as our costume while we face the darkness inside. The goal isn’t to defeat the ghosts but to understand them — to see how they came to be and what they’ve been trying to protect.
Turning the Haunted House into a Sanctuary
Healing doesn’t mean demolishing the old house. It means walking its corridors with light in our hands. We listen to the whispers behind the doors, we offer compassion where we once offered fear, and we reclaim the rooms that were once off-limits.
In doing so, we transform our inner haunted house into a sanctuary — a place where the living and the lost can coexist in peace.
This Halloween, Honor the Courage of the Living
When you see a ghost this Halloween, think of the parts of yourself that have been longing to be seen. When you light a candle inside a pumpkin, let it symbolize the light you carry into your own darkness.
Because healing is, in its own way, a resurrection — a rising from what once buried you.
Reflective Journal Prompts:
“What part of you is ready to step out of the shadows and be seen in the light of your own compassion?”
“Which of your inner ghosts are simply waiting to be acknowledged, not feared?”
“What forgotten part of your story might be longing to be welcomed home this season?”
“If your healing were a lantern, where would you shine its light next?”
“What would happen if you treated your haunted places as holy ground?”
Emily Arth, MSW, LCSW can help you integrate shadows of the past.
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CONTACT US AT (417)372-2921
EMAIL: earth@emlifecounseling.com
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