The purpose of this page is to give a little more clarity on trauma that is difficult to acknowledge.  Thanks to trauma advocacy and research, we now know that traumatic experiences affect the mental and physical well being of people.  When it gets tricky is trying to define what traumas are exactly.

I tend to have a more flexible definition of trauma.  I have been in the trauma field since I was an undergraduate student in 2009.  I’ve worked with people that had straight forward, recognized traumas like child sexual abuse and those who have experienced less intense traumas.  What I’ve noticed is that they can both be detrimental to mental health.

Here are some examples of traumas that I come across regularly that are largely ignored by our culture:

• Being belittled, humiliated, or rejected by caregivers

• Bullying

• Having a parent with a serious mental illness or substance abuse issue

• Community violence

• Intimate partner violence

• Intergenerational trauma

• Neglect

The effects of traumatic events are vast and diverse.  Just google the ACE study and you can learn all about the effects traumas have on health and mental health.  There’s also Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), where you can read more about here. It’s important to recognize that not everyone who experiences trauma has PTSD.

Here are some common effects I see as a therapist:

Chronic anxiety

Trauma affects the body by leaving an imprint on your brain and nervous system.  This makes you more vulnerable to every day stress.  Stressful events become misinterpreted as threatening events and your body responds accordingly – panic, worry, disconnection from surroundings, restlessness – also known as hyperarousal.  Trauma also changes beliefs.  People with anxiety and past trauma tend to look at the world as scary, people as mistrusting and think the next scary thing is just around the corner. 

Resentment

Resentment will show up if the trauma you went through isn’t fully acknowledged. After a trauma happens, we turn to people for support.  If the trauma was minimized or outright denied, it’s natural to feel a sense of injustice and anger.  Anger is a natural response and healthy to express. Resentment is what happens when that anger is suppressed.  Suppressed anger has been correlated with all kinds of health issues. It can also lead to isolation, depression and substance abuse.

An excessive need for control

Traumas are often chaotic and unpredictable.  As a coping mechanism, you may have developed rigid patterns that give you a sense of security.  I see many clients with trauma histories have inflexible expectations, schedules, and beliefs.  This can be beneficial in some areas, but where I see it becoming problematic is when inflexibility causes you to miss out on opportunities. It leaves you vulnerable to anxiety, conflict in relationships, isolation, and low self esteem stemming from impossible expectations of yourself.

Trauma Informed Therapy

Occasionally therapy participants come in to process traumatic events, but much more often traumatic events come out as an underlying factor in their suffering. 

Trauma informed therapy is beneficial for those who are dealing with the effects of trauma but aren’t seriously hindered by them.  It’s an unstructured talk therapy that involves recognizing traumas, how it relates to your current issues, and developing your own path towards healing.  Here are some signs that I look for when proceeding with trauma informed therapy versus more structured therapies:

• You can talk about the trauma without extreme panic or dissociation

• You are able to tolerate being in public spaces

• You can generally complete day to day tasks

• You start seeing progress over the course of therapy

If you think you have PTSD or the effects of trauma are seriously impacting your ability to function on a day to day basis, you may need a more structured therapy to manage it.  A big theme of PTSD is avoidance behavior, so unstructured therapy may sound nice but it could keep you stuck.  You can read more about structured trauma therapies here.

If you think trauma related issues are affecting you and want to talk about the therapy process further, feel free to schedule a consultation