What is Trauma?

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We hear the word trauma these days quite often, but what does this word really mean? Many different things may be called "traumatic" Trauma refers to experiences that are overwhelming and may leave a person feeling helpless, vulnerable, or frightened. Trauma may include specific types of events, such as being in an accident or experiencing a natural disaster like a hurricane or an earthquake. Trauma may Also include ongoing stressors, such as physical or sexual abuse.  For children, trauma is often about more than physical harm. For instance, separation from a caregiver/parent, emotional neglect, and lack of a stable home (such as living in many different foster homes) are often very traumatic.

Treating traumatic stress in children and adolescents: how to foster resilience through attachment, self-regulation, and competency/ Margaret E. Blaustein, Kristine M. Kinniburgh.

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When a traumatic event occurs, the image of what happened gets frozen in your nervous system, along with all the associated thoughts, emotions, and body sensations/disturbances. Continuing to talk about the trauma can repeatedly re-traumatize individuals each time they tell their story. This is why I chose to get trained in EMDR, because of the techniques' successful outcomes in helping to reprocess the trauma that occurred and ultimately giving the client relief from the negative associations initially caused by the trauma. 

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Important note: Having a trauma history does not mean you are damaged or something is wrong with you. It means that you have had experiences in your life which caused a higher level of emotional stress, than normal daily events, which more often than not, needs to be worked through therapeutically to achieve relief.

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