The National Council for Behavioral Health (September 2021) reports that “70% of adults have experienced some type of trauma at least once in their lives.” This is a staggering statistic! It is one that warrants more of our attention to better understand the impacts of trauma and what we can do to heal.
What is trauma?
Trauma is not a character flaw or weakness. Trauma is about what happens to our nervous systems as the result of danger or threat. Many associate trauma with PTSD that occurs after experiences such as combat or childhood abuse. These situations absolutely can trigger trauma responses or a PTSD diagnosis. There is a distinction here though. Many who have experienced trauma will not develop a PTSD diagnosis. PTSD requires a specific set of criteria in order to warrant this diagnosis (see here for more information https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd). Trauma occurs when a person is overwhelmed by an event(s) or experience and responds with intense fear, horror, and helplessness. The stress of these can overwhelm the person’s capacity to cope (NIMH, September 2021).
What can cause trauma?
Trauma is in the eye of the beholder’s nervous system. For example, siblings raised in the same home may have different responses to the circumstances in the home environment. One may experience intense fear and develop a trauma response, whereas the other may experience the fear and not develop a trauma response. These types of trauma experiences are part of the category we can call childhood developmental experiences. Trauma can develop even in the most loving family environments. If there are persistent stressors in the environment, some individuals may experience a trauma response. Some examples of these stressors might be financial issues, parents/caretakers mental and/or physical health issues, generational trauma, divorce, joblessness, grief and loss, to name a few. Trauma can occur from a single event, or often happens when there is a pattern over a significant period of time.
Who develops trauma?
We can’t definitively say who will experience something as traumatic. We can, however, recognize when someone has and thus validate their experience. We can offer support and help with healing to those affected. Most of my clients do not meet the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis. Many people experience some PTSD symptoms, but not all. Individuals experience these symptoms to varying degrees, and not always to the degree that it disrupts their lives in such a way that they would consider trauma as the cause for some of the symptoms. Many people consider counseling because they are having trouble in relationships, at work, experience anxiety, depression and more likely, some combination of all of these.
How is trauma identified?
When a client comes to me and describes some of their experiences, I am often looking to understand what is happening physically as well as mentally and emotionally. Many don’t consider the physical symptoms as part of a trauma response. The physical symptoms are, in reality, a major part of the trauma response. Trauma sits in our nervous systems and once triggered, our nervous systems will respond to protect us if there is a real or perceived threat or sense of danger. Polyvagal theory offers clinicians an approach that helps us better understand the impacts of trauma on the nervous system and how to provide interventions to regulate one’s nervous system. I regularly integrate a perspective using the Polyvagal theory that helps me recognize when someone’s nervous system is triggered in this way. To learn more about Polyvagal Theory, check out this resource, https://www.rhythmofregulation.com/resources/Beginner%27s-Guide.pdf
Fight, flight, freeze
Most of us have heard about fight, flight and freeze. These are the categories of responses of our nervous systems that help us survive. This is great news! Without these responses, we might succumb to danger because we would not be aware of or able to respond appropriately. These responses become a problem when our nervous systems get accustomed to respond to triggers that mimic, in some way, the original trauma experience(s). This could be a sound, a smell, a facial expression, body language, or any number of other things. Sometimes these are so subtle that we are not aware of them. Sometimes it looks like anxiety or depression as well. Some of the work we do in therapy helps us recognize when we are having trauma responses. We notice and observe what’s happening in and around us and start to become aware of patterns that might emerge. We can then link current experiences to past experiences because our nervous systems remember what happened even if we don’t remember on a conscious level. There are many ways that we access these memories and we only access what we need to in order to heal. We are not interested in remembering for the sake of remembering and certainly we are not interested in causing anyone unnecessary pain and suffering.
Trauma interventions
There are several evidence based trauma approaches that we are blessed with in therapy treatment that help us in the healing trauma journey. The most effective evidence based trauma interventions are EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Somatic Experiencing, IFS (Internal Family Systems) and Sensorimotor Psychomotor Therapy. These work very well when integrated with traditional talk therapies, CBT, family systems, and psychodynamic approaches, for example. You can visit EMDRIA.org, traumahealing.org (somatic experiencing), ifs-institute.com, and sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org for more information on these approaches.
If you or someone you know is experiencing challenging life patterns, and you think trauma might be involved, I would encourage you to seek a trauma informed therapist to help. There is no need to continue what may seem to be endless suffering. Hope and healing are possible! Many of my colleagues and I at the Center for Pastoral Counseling are therapists who want to help. Reach out to us today www.pastoralcounseling.com
References
National Council on Behavioral Health, retrieved on September 27, 2021 from https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Trauma-infographic.pdf?daf=375ateTbd56
National Institute of Mental Health, retrieved on September 27, 2021 from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/coping-with-traumatic-events
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Center for Pastoral Counseling of Virginia.
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