In's and out's of Trauma

The In’s and Out’s of Trauma:

In 2019, this word is THROWN around. I’d like to bet that we at least hear it once a day.

Let’s start out with the basics… what IS a trauma?

I will explain this as best as I can. Trauma can be an one-time event, or a prolonged period of time that deeply effects a person. It can range from a physical injury, to death of a loved one, to psychological or emotional abuse. Not limited to those few examples, and can deeply injure or impact the way that we see the world. Trauma can impact our physical bodies, or cognitive abilities, our memory, our emotional capacities, our social lives, and even our spirituality. Trauma can intervene into every facet of our lives, and show it’s face in seemingly unrelated ways at times. For example; chronic pain, aversion to certain places or smells without knowing why, or sensitivities to different things.

Another thing I know about trauma is that sometimes we will not be able to bring it into our explicit memory, but it may be stored in our body—impacting the ways in which we think, function, and move. For example, a baby experiencing neglect from caregivers may not be able to remember this period of their life once in adulthood; however, they may have struggled developmentally, have difficulty forming relationships, etc… This COULD be a result of that childhood trauma.

Likely every person that you encounter has experienced some sort of trauma. Some that are seemingly “minor”, and some that have altered a person’s entire being and perspective.

One thing I want to point out:  in the counseling profession; trauma is thrown around like a buzzword. It might be easy to see a history of ‘trauma’ when counseling a person, and assume that it is still impacting them and needs to be addressed in counseling. No, I disagree…. that is up to the discretion of the person being seen. Some individuals truly have some sort of natural resiliency, and do not see benefit to revisit the past, and it can become an injustice to assume that this needs to be re-visited. I think the point I am trying to make is: allow that individual freedom to perceive an event or time that is going to be healthiest for them. There is no “one size fits all” therapy modality, or treatment for the unspeakable injuries that life may inflict. Identifying a trauma as a trauma may be healing to some individuals, and entirely unhelpful to others. As a therapist, I take the approach of “going there” when a person is ready.

There is an abundance of research out there on trauma, and could be entirely helpful to you. I have learned a lot about trauma through reading Bessel Van Der Kolk’s “The Body Keeps the Score”. I won’t go into different treatments of trauma in this post specifically, although I do know there is a myriad of helpful therapy modalities out there.

I will end with some tidbits that I have found to be true about trauma in my work with individuals:

·       -The pain and effects of trauma don’t always end when the trauma itself does

·       -our mind might not remember the trauma but the body can store it (as I mentioned above) so, a holistic mind/body approach might work best when healing trauma. i.e. yoga, meditation, therapy

·       -the impact of trauma looks very different for each individual

·       -emotionally, trauma can dress up as shame, guilt, feelings of worthlessness, confusion, anxiety, anger.. etc. etc. etc.

·       -physically trauma can have an impact on weight, body-image, chronic pain, fatigue, an unhealthy relationship with food… etc…

·       Note: you may have NONE of these symptoms; however, that does NOT make your trauma any less real, significant, or painful. Every individual is SO different.

·       -when you are ready, it might be healing to tell your story to a trusted loved one or professional as a way to shed some light on those dark places

As I have said before… finding the right professional can feel overwhelming. I suggest trying www.psychologytoday.com, and typing in your zip code to see therapists near you. Read their bio’s. Give them a call. Don’t be afraid to ask them about themselves and possible specialties they might have. Every therapist may not be a good fit for you. Do not be afraid to ‘shop around’ for a therapist in which you feel comfortable with their presence and competency levels.