Pause. Breathe. Hope. Heal.
Dear Reader! To make life easier for you, I wanted to give you this information in a couple different formats. You can either read this blog post, or click the link below to download the podcast and listen to the episode on the go.
What is trauma? In the Wisdom of Trauma, Gabor Maté defined it as, “Trauma is not the bad things that happened to you, but what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you.” Trauma is our emotional response to distressing or adverse events. The traumatic event can be something that happens one time, or it could be a series of events that have a cumulative effect.
Trauma can happen at any age, and it is quite common. You may hear people talk about little “t” trauma or big “T” trauma. Little “t” trauma usually refers to things like moving schools, being rejected by your friend group, getting laid off from a job, working with a difficult person, bullying, a breakup. Whereas, big “T” trauma involves experiences like sexual assault, a serious car accident, a natural disaster, abuse, or the death of a parent.
Some symptoms of trauma are:
- Flashbacks
- Difficulty sleeping
- Nightmares and other night terrors
- Panic attacks
- Anger or irritability
- Emotional numbness
- Being always on edge
- Depression and grief
- Lack of enjoyment of activities that were once pleasurable
- Avoidance from people, places, or situations that trigger symptoms of trauma
- Suicidal thoughts
Some effective ways to treat trauma include CBT, EMDR, Somatic practices, IFS, and Brainspotting. Everyone is different so it is important to find the right approach to doing trauma work with each individual. Working through trauma is important, and equally important is choosing to grow your resources, strengths and resilience. Trauma may be something that happened to you, but it does not define you.
So, right now as you read this post, remember to take a moment in your day to remind yourself to pause, breathe, hope, and heal.
If you would like to see if we would be a good therapeutic fit, schedule a free 20-minute consultation by clicking the button below.
