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What is Trauma?

Trauma is universal and something we collectively share as a human experience. We may experience, carry, and react to our trauma differently, but the source that is trauma, itself, is inevitably the same. We all experience trauma.

Defined by Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center, "trauma is a pervasive problem. It results from exposure to an incident or series of events that are emotionally disturbing or life-threatening with lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, and/or spiritual well-being."

As more research and studies have been conducted, it has been found that there are three different types of trauma one can carry:

  1. Acute trauma: results from a single incident

  2. Chronic trauma: repeated and prolonged such as domestic violence or abuse

  3. Complex trauma: exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events, often of an invasive, interpersonal nature 

 For more information, you can visit: Early Connections

Trauma can be experienced in a larger, more apparent scale, such as but not limited to:

  • Natural disasters

  • Physical or sexual assault

  • Discrimination and violence

  • Life threatening illnesses, accidents, or injuries

Or, it can be experienced on a smaller, more subtle scale, such as but not limited to:

  • Childhood neglect or abandonment 

  • Bullying 

  • Betrayal

  • Chronic illness

 Each one of these traumas, along with many more, can be equally be damaging and difficult to heal from. 

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"Trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, body, and brain... It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think... helping victims of trauma find the words to describe what has happened to them is profoundly meaningful, but usually it is not enough... the body needs to learn that danger has passed and to live in the reality of the present." - Bessel Van Der Kolk M.D. The Body Keeps the Score

Approaches to Healing Trauma

In the past, and still in some cases today, trauma is often misunderstood, overlooked, stigmatized, denied, and avoided.  With more awareness around this human condition, traditional talk therapy practices were implemented to assist in the healing process of a person's trauma. However, it has been found that more is needed in the healing process to facilitate growth. UNC Chapel Hill of Social Work Clinical Institute clinically researched that talk therapy isn't sufficient enough, "responsible trauma treatment includes addressing the physical and neurobiological impact of trauma... trauma is present in the body for all of us" (11). With trauma present in the body, this implies that we not only address our trauma mentally, but physically as well.

Physically, we can address our trauma by practicing mindfulness strategies, such as but not limited to: 

  • Meditation

  • Breathwork

  • Showing gratitude

 As well as embodiment practices, such as but not limited to:

  • Yoga 

  • Martial arts 

  • Dancing

 

These modalities are essential to a person's process of continuous healing, for they teach us of self-regulation to manage our stress or arousal, of interoception and how to tolerate our feelings and emotions in the body, and lastly to cultivate patience, compassion, and resilience towards ourselves and others. 

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