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Trauma is a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that happens to an individual, a family, and/or to a culture. These events or situations are so painful and emotionally disturbing that they will overload a person’s ability to cope. According to the American Psychological Association (APA.org), “Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea. While these feelings are normal, some people have difficulty moving on with their lives.”

 

During infancy or childhood the trauma of abuse and or neglect can induce terror without the ability to fight or flee, which are natural reactions. This type of trauma may go undiagnosed but the symptoms may linger on.

 

As I have stated in the explanation of EMDR, trauma literally means “wound, injury, or shock”. A single event trauma is also known as a “shock trauma”. As a trauma therapist, we often talk about big T traumas and little t traumas.

 

A big T trauma is either a single traumatic incident, life changing or a series of ongoing big traumatic experiences.  Some examples of big T traumas are rape, war effects, childhood sexual abuse and physical abuse, victim of a crime, major accidents or any other life threatening event. Big T traumas can sometimes be easiest to process because they are undeniable.

 

Little t traumas are a series of traumatic events appearing less damaging over time or a one-time trauma which impacted you more subtly.  An example is a car accident where nobody got hurt but you are left with an apprehension/fear of driving. Other examples are childhood neglect and verbal abuse, bullying, witnessing domestic abuse and grief.  Little t traumas are not usually identified as trauma by clients and may be called “life events’.  

 

Shock trauma is more often a singular event such as witnessing injury or death or facing imminent threat of injury or death. A person experiencing a shock trauma may feel horror, helplessness and terror. Whereas developmental trauma is generally a chronic trauma that occurs repeatedly such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, childhood neglect, domestic violence or bullying. These repetitive events occur over time end up being a part of one’s experience of the world, impacting the way someone views or interacts with the world. These types of traumas affect the “development,” of a person’s sense of self, sense of others and sense of how the world works. In either Shock or Developmental Trauma a child, teenager or adult may have enough resiliency and enough “good” resources/connections/support persons (neighbors, teachers, friends) to be able to stay balanced through stresses of daily life.

 

On the other hand, these events may lead to intense distress, overwhelm, anxiety. The person may experience sleep difficulty, attention difficulty, anger and irritability, intrusive thoughts, withdrawal, or distress when reminded of their experience. Trauma can also lead to the development of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, suicidality and a variety of other behavioral disorders. The developing brain and nervous system can be affected by repeated or singular trauma, leading to difficulty with regulation/dysregulation systems. Individuals can be affected in an ongoing family and peer relationships.

 

Dissociation happens when an individual experiencing trauma becomes so overwhelmed at the time of the event that they separate from self (dissociation) and thereby this becomes a lifelong coping mechanism to protect themself.  To the individual, it may just feel like a numbing out or disconnection. In addition, the events may have occurred preverbally (prior to the ability to speak) so there are no words to describe them nor explicit memories just an internal feeling of distress and lack of safety in the world. Holding unresolved trauma in our bodies can lead to ongoing distress, physical symptoms, possibly even autoimmune disorders, migraines, and anxiety. When we hold trauma in our emotions it can lead to depression, fear, isolation. The trauma held in our minds leads to an expectation of distrust and lack of safety with others.

 

An individual can try to avoid unfavorable circumstances to protect him or herself, but unfortunately there is truly no way to prevent life’s adversities from occurring. Approximately 70% of Americans have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lives, such as a divorce, the sudden loss of a loved one, a natural disaster, or a violent altercation. These one-time events can be so troubling and disconcerting that they cause individuals to suffer from serious consequences.

 

However, there is a separate subset of people who have experienced repeated traumatic events, leading to complex trauma, or complex PTSD. An individual won’t develop complex trauma without having back-to-back traumatic experiences occur within his or her life. Some examples of situations that can cause complex trauma include the following:

 

• Repeated sexual, physical, or mental abuse

• Experiencing kidnapping

• Being a prisoner of war

• Repeated combat exposure

• Experiencing human trafficking

• Experiencing chronic neglect/abandonment

 

Someone who is experiencing several instances of trauma on a regular basis is unable to heal in between the traumatic events. He or she is still struggling with the effects of the previous trauma while being traumatized again. As this pattern of trauma continues, it can impact one’s self-confidence, self-acceptance, ability to adapt to stressful situations, and so on. 

 

Symptoms of Complex Trauma:

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• Persistent sadness

• Hypervigilance

• Detachment from their surrounds

• Flooding of memories

• Suicidal thoughts

• Explosive anger

• Forgetting traumatic events

• Feeling helpless, shameful, or guilty

• Preoccupation with the perpetrator

• Preoccupation with revenge against the perpetrator

• Isolation

• Distrust

• Constant searching for a rescuer

 

These symptoms can be so overwhelming that an individual can begin to devolve into behaviors that he or she never did before, such as abusing drugs and/or alcohol or developing an eating disorder, acting out sexually or gambling to name a few. These individuals are also more likely to partake in self-harming behaviors and avoid all topics related to their complex trauma in an effort to cope.

 

How I treat trauma:

 

I have a page on my website devoted to EMDR, which is the first place I go to to treat trauma.  EMDR is very effective and combined with traditional therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, I have seen great results.

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