WHAT IS TRAUMA?
Trauma is a Greek word for an injury. So psychological trauma is a kind of injury to the brain. Trauma could be thought of as any experience which creates some sort of difficulty within you today, even though what happened is over...
Sometimes it is not over, whatever has caused harm, continues to do so, it is ongoing somehow, creating its unique set of challenges for recovery.
Traumatic 'events' or memories imprint onto the brain and remain there, unprocessed and as if frozen in time...
Good therapy that creates change is not so much about what happened to you, but what's now happening within you, because of what happened. Think of psychological trauma as you might a physical trauma/ wound. It needs cleaning out so it can heal, sometimes we need to revisit the wound, as healing around the trauma will no doubt of occurred.
If you were injured in a car crash, there is little point in talking about the car crash - this is not the trauma - this is what happened.
The trauma is the impact on your brain and body, and the effect of the trauma is the edgy feelings you have, the feeling of your body being injured even though it's years later, the pictures of the car you can't get out of your head, the smell of the petrol coming back randomly, the fear preventing you from not wanting to get back on the road.
The trauma resides more in the unconscious part of the brain (sub-cortex) i.e. the non-thinking part of the brain (neocortex). If trauma were to be in the thinking part of the brain, then it would be possible just to think differently, and the trauma is dealt with this way... Trauma is felt in the body, it can feel depressing, anxious or even like you're feeling empty or nothing.
There are more and more thoughts from experts in this field that trauma can be inherited from the generations above and beyond us. This phenomenon is known as 'intergenerational trauma'. Therapies such as Brainspotting and Internal Family Systems have ways of healing from this kind of trauma...
Trauma can be thought about in many ways. One way I explain trauma is in this analogy:
Imagine you drop a glass, the impact on the glass causes trauma to the glass. It's not the impact that is the trauma, the trauma is how it leaves the glass. Trauma leaves the glass in fragments or 'parts', these parts are all different, and there is not one part that is the same. The glass has been changed forever by what happened to it… but alas the glass can be fixed.
Luckily, the brain is not made of glass, it is more like a kind of dense, heavy (about 1.4 kg) jelly which is capable of healing and recovering from trauma (known as neuroplasticity). The brain is made up of 1-4 Quadrillion synaptic connections, which is the equivalent of 1-4 Olympic swimming pools filled with sand - each grain represents a synapse!
Now, when trauma occurs there may be protective barriers that unconsciously form to prevent further trauma/protection from the pain occurring again in the future, these barriers can be in many forms from physical sensations, and behaviours to personality traits. Think of a child that has a graze to their knee, they don't want you near it, they protect the graze/trauma on their knee. However, this is what needs attention, with careful treatment and care, trauma/the graze can heal.
With the right therapies, the trauma fragmentation can be healed at a neurological level. Together, with my clients, I work with the fragmented parts to start integrating them back together, aiding the healing process.
Fragmented parts can be thoughts, but are more often emotions, and physical sensations. We may get emotions that are hard to put into words, or they may be unexplained physical sensations. Memories are not made of words, more they are made up of the senses of what happened:
It makes sense that flashbacks not only come in the form of 'pictures' like we might see in movies but also in the mind, emotions, bodily sensations, smells and sounds.
Our response to these trauma memories is often protective. Naturally, we don't want to feel the pain or re-experience the trauma. So we minimize or try and squash it down. We may do this by trying to think logically or using reason, we may try to avoid it through binging, food, exercise, watching TV shows or work... These may be helpful 'in the moment', but the effects of trauma return.
Trauma memory is like a file that is so big and upsetting it could not be filed away neatly at the time... Trauma may leave us feeling shut down, or the opposite, leaving us hyper-vigilant, or hyper-sensitive. With the right therapies, you can achieve regulation and heal the effects of trauma.
Within mental health, trauma has been pathologized and is categorized into trauma types:
Because of the DSM-V, there are many, many more people with a diagnosis of PTSD and BPD. In reality, it is much more realistic that people have experienced numerous childhood trauma/s meaning most people would more accurately fit a diagnosis of C-PTSD.
Interestingly, the DSM-V does not carry diagnostic criteria for CPTSD, however the ICD-11 does.
Sometimes it is not over, whatever has caused harm, continues to do so, it is ongoing somehow, creating its unique set of challenges for recovery.
Traumatic 'events' or memories imprint onto the brain and remain there, unprocessed and as if frozen in time...
Good therapy that creates change is not so much about what happened to you, but what's now happening within you, because of what happened. Think of psychological trauma as you might a physical trauma/ wound. It needs cleaning out so it can heal, sometimes we need to revisit the wound, as healing around the trauma will no doubt of occurred.
If you were injured in a car crash, there is little point in talking about the car crash - this is not the trauma - this is what happened.
The trauma is the impact on your brain and body, and the effect of the trauma is the edgy feelings you have, the feeling of your body being injured even though it's years later, the pictures of the car you can't get out of your head, the smell of the petrol coming back randomly, the fear preventing you from not wanting to get back on the road.
The trauma resides more in the unconscious part of the brain (sub-cortex) i.e. the non-thinking part of the brain (neocortex). If trauma were to be in the thinking part of the brain, then it would be possible just to think differently, and the trauma is dealt with this way... Trauma is felt in the body, it can feel depressing, anxious or even like you're feeling empty or nothing.
There are more and more thoughts from experts in this field that trauma can be inherited from the generations above and beyond us. This phenomenon is known as 'intergenerational trauma'. Therapies such as Brainspotting and Internal Family Systems have ways of healing from this kind of trauma...
Trauma can be thought about in many ways. One way I explain trauma is in this analogy:
Imagine you drop a glass, the impact on the glass causes trauma to the glass. It's not the impact that is the trauma, the trauma is how it leaves the glass. Trauma leaves the glass in fragments or 'parts', these parts are all different, and there is not one part that is the same. The glass has been changed forever by what happened to it… but alas the glass can be fixed.
Luckily, the brain is not made of glass, it is more like a kind of dense, heavy (about 1.4 kg) jelly which is capable of healing and recovering from trauma (known as neuroplasticity). The brain is made up of 1-4 Quadrillion synaptic connections, which is the equivalent of 1-4 Olympic swimming pools filled with sand - each grain represents a synapse!
Now, when trauma occurs there may be protective barriers that unconsciously form to prevent further trauma/protection from the pain occurring again in the future, these barriers can be in many forms from physical sensations, and behaviours to personality traits. Think of a child that has a graze to their knee, they don't want you near it, they protect the graze/trauma on their knee. However, this is what needs attention, with careful treatment and care, trauma/the graze can heal.
With the right therapies, the trauma fragmentation can be healed at a neurological level. Together, with my clients, I work with the fragmented parts to start integrating them back together, aiding the healing process.
Fragmented parts can be thoughts, but are more often emotions, and physical sensations. We may get emotions that are hard to put into words, or they may be unexplained physical sensations. Memories are not made of words, more they are made up of the senses of what happened:
- What happened to you?
- What did you see?
- What did you hear?
- What did you feel physically?
- What emotions did you feel?
- What did you smell?
- What did you taste?
It makes sense that flashbacks not only come in the form of 'pictures' like we might see in movies but also in the mind, emotions, bodily sensations, smells and sounds.
Our response to these trauma memories is often protective. Naturally, we don't want to feel the pain or re-experience the trauma. So we minimize or try and squash it down. We may do this by trying to think logically or using reason, we may try to avoid it through binging, food, exercise, watching TV shows or work... These may be helpful 'in the moment', but the effects of trauma return.
Trauma memory is like a file that is so big and upsetting it could not be filed away neatly at the time... Trauma may leave us feeling shut down, or the opposite, leaving us hyper-vigilant, or hyper-sensitive. With the right therapies, you can achieve regulation and heal the effects of trauma.
Within mental health, trauma has been pathologized and is categorized into trauma types:
- PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: This is usually diagnosed when a singular traumatic event occurs, and there are persisting symptoms 6 weeks after the event. For example, you are involved or are witness to a one-off incident such as a car crash, or physical attack. PTSD is a diagnosis with the DSM-V. Do you remember ever being in shock right after something has happened, PTSD can be like this, but the feelings and symptoms persist. You may not feel there is a problem straight after the traumatic incident, but in time symptoms such as intense anxiety, depression, and panic attacks may start to occur...
- C-PTSD, Childhood Trauma, Complex Trauma, Developmental Trauma: Often when there is repeated trauma/s as a child, this impacts on our development. C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress) maybe the closet diagnosis. C-PTSD is often down to more than one event, it is often a series of events (such as abuse/neglect) and not exclusively in childhood. There is also a theme of grief or loss that accompanies this type of trauma (C-PTSD), there is something more personal about it than say an acute accident of some sort. C-PTSD although recognised amongst mental health professionals, is not a diagnosis that is defined within the DSM-V (DSM-V is a diagnostic manual to come out of the pharmaceutical industry in the USA)
- BDP/ Borderline Personality Disorder: This is a harsh and very shaming diagnosis that stems from the medical model and the legacy of pathology. BPD could be viewed as a collection of trauma symptoms which is how I regard it to be.. Every person who I have met with BPD diagnosis has a repeated history of trauma from childhood to early teens. People with the BPD diagnosis display trauma symptoms and display behaviours that can be 'challenging' to professionals or 'protective' to a trauma therapist. The challenging behaviours are trauma reactions and protective parts of the personality. BPD is a diagnosis within the DSM-V, and in reality, people who fit the diagnosis of BPD would also fit a C-PTSD diagnosis.
- DID / Dissociative Identity Disorder: This is another diagnosis that would sit within C-PTSD (if there was one). These different kinds of identities within a person can seem very different. For example, a person may seem as if they are very 'professional' one moment and then can be very immature and 'childlike'. DID is developed when there are repeated traumas in childhood and the child subconsciously adapts personalities. Another layer to this is that the various parts of personality may have amnesia between them, so sometimes the person is unaware of what they have been doing or is unaware that there are other 'parts' to their personality. This can cause difficulties with behaviours, memory, and relationships. DID is kind of like an extreme version of walking into a room and forgetting what you went in for, or waking up and not knowing how you got there.
Because of the DSM-V, there are many, many more people with a diagnosis of PTSD and BPD. In reality, it is much more realistic that people have experienced numerous childhood trauma/s meaning most people would more accurately fit a diagnosis of C-PTSD.
Interestingly, the DSM-V does not carry diagnostic criteria for CPTSD, however the ICD-11 does.
Trauma is not what happened to you, but the wounds that's been caused because of what's happened to you.
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