UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA

There are many ways in today’s world to be impacted by a traumatic experience. According to one study, 89 percent of adults in the United States report having experienced at least one traumatic event in their lives, with most adults reporting exposure to multiple traumatic events (Widen the Window, pg. 17). That’s a lot of people.

The impact of trauma on the brain and the body is becoming better understood, and ongoing research is helping to inform new ways of healing trauma. Of course, not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will develop trauma but, for those who do, it can be a life-changing experience.

Trauma can’t be defined solely by what happens to a person; trauma also includes what happens to the person’s nervous system as a result of an event, a series of events, or even a set of ongoing conditions. Because everyone’s experiences, histories, and nervous systems are different, what may be merely highly stressful to one person may in fact be traumatic to another.

In simple terms, trauma effectually overwhelms a person’s ability to regulate the experience in their thinking, in their feelings, and in their body. Trauma can hijack the brain and leave the “fight-or-flight” response stuck in the “on” position even when the threat is no longer there. Dr. Elizabeth Stanley notes, “Trauma is not just something very unpleasant that will fade in time. Trauma changes how we perceive the world we live in. The traumatic event itself may have been in the past but those post-traumatic reactions rob us of the capacity to feel fully alive and in the present.”

Fortunately, as human beings, we have an amazing capacity to heal from trauma but often need help in doing so. Clinical psychologist Stan Tatkin and his wife, Tracey Boldemann-Tatkin, have said, “We are hurt in relationship and we heal in relationship.” (Diane Poole Heller) Recovery from trauma requires healing the disconnection that trauma causes—disconnection from both ourselves and others--and ultimately restoring the body and mind to a state of stability and rest.