What is a "Trauma?"

Sometimes people get caught up on the word ‘trauma’ and are quick to dismiss their life experiences as not "therapy-worthy" because they don’t consider them to have been “traumatic."

They may think to themselves, "It wasn't that bad" or "Other people have had it so much worse."

This thinking is unhelpful in two ways:

1. It can keep people from seeking the kind of therapeutic help that will allow them to heal and experience a fuller, more emotionally present life.

2. It's not accurate.

The truth is trauma can come in many forms and falls more on a continuum than it lies in a category. It's more "relative" than it is compartmental, which is to say it is more contingent upon the individual and their set of unique life circumstances, than it is the other way around.

In fact, I will go so far as to say anything could be potentially traumatic as it is the person on the receiving end who ultimately determines how it is experienced.

Therapists sometimes reference the notion of “Big T’s” and “Little T’S” to explain the range of traumatic events that exist. I do not like this referencing because the implication is "Big T's" are somehow harder to overcome than "Little T's", which isn't necessarily true, and it further perpetuates this weird hierarchy of trauma both in the field and the public at large.

With that said, let’s unpack for a moment a way to conceptualize trauma that in my opinion is more accurate and helpful.

What is a Trauma?

The word "trauma" comes from the Greek word traumatikos which means "pertaining to a wound."

Put most simply, trauma is a wound.

Boom.

From a basic neuroscience perspective, a trauma is any experience that overwhelms your central nervous system and interferes with your brain’s processing of the experience. It is this lack of appropriate processing that creates the wound in one's brain.

Trauma formation occurs through the following sequence: Experience happens + Central Nervous System becomes overwhelmed = Wound is formed.

The wound forms when the memory gets "stuck" in a part of the brain that is not easily, if at all, accessible through cognitive means or talking it out.

Now it bares mentioning there are other factors that impact whether or not a person will go onto develop full blown trauma symptoms, so it's a tad bit simplistic to say that it is ONLY about the CNS becoming overwhelmed (stay tuned for a separate blog on these factors). But if we are talking about the process of how a trauma forms in the brain, in isolation, this is how: Event + CNS overwhelm = Wound.

What are the Types of Trauma?

Just as there are different types of physical traumas or wounds, there are different types of emotional traumas or wounds.

One type of emotional trauma or wound is one which lends itself more readily to causing PTSD-ish like responses. These are traumas such as the trauma war veterans experience in combat, or sexual assault victims endure. They are actual or perceived near death/life threatening experiences, or experiences in which your personal safety, or that of a loved one's, feels to be in significant peril. They are often one time occurrences, but don’t have to be. They can be natural disasters, fires, car accidents, childhood abuse or neglect.

Another type of wound or trauma is one that results from an “adverse life event.” An adverse life event is a difficult, dangerous, or overly stressful experience that overwhelms the central nervous system and interferes with processing of the events, yet it doesn't necessarily lead to full blown PTSD-ish responses (though they can). They also tend to be more chronic in nature, or occur over time in an accumulative fashion, as opposed to an isolated acute period.

Some examples of adverse life events include the following:

• Divorce

• Job Loss

• Social Isolation

• Relationship Conflict/Breakups

• Bullying/Negative Social Media Influences

• Frequent moving/Family disruption

• Physical Trauma/Interpersonal Violence

• Death of a Loved One

• Loss of a pet

• Betrayal

• Medical Injury or Trauma/Chronic Illness

• Natural Disaster

• Pandemic

• Birth of a Child

A third type of emotional wound or trauma is referred to as Complex Trauma. Complex Trauma, or CPTSD, occurs when a person experiences a combination of adverse life events/traumas. It can occur over a long period of time, or it could be a brief period whereby many traumas occurred. It's "complex" because it's not one thing that can be pointed to as "Ah yes, THAT'S the thing that is causing me issues." It's a whole bunch of traumas, or wounds, jumbled together, that have led to the gradual build up of trauma responses.

These are the types of traumas, and they lie on a continuum. 1. Life-threatening experiences; 2. Adverse Life Events 3. Complex Trauma.

Whenever I hear a person say, "I don't have trauma," I feel compelled to retort, "You are one of the rare persons in the history of the world who has never had your central nervous system overwhelmed resulting in a wound. We should isolate and study you to learn how we can replicate your experience for others."

Now I'm not saying that every person on this earth has experienced the types of trauma that would lead them to develop PTSD or trauma symptoms. Similarly, not everyone has the experience of complex trauma. But certainly many people have had adverse life events. If at any point in your life you've had your CNS overwhelmed by an adverse life event, then you have had trauma and may have potentially developed trauma symptoms. This is not to label or pathologize; rather, it's to empower because there is a wealth of trauma treatment available that you are probably not getting due to mistakenly believing you don't qualify.

I treat all types of trauma across the continuum of traumatic experiences but my speciality lie in the treatment of Complex Trauma, C-PTSD. I am an EMDR trained therapist and specialize in treating young women. If you'd like to learn more about EMDR you can visit here: www.emdria.org. You can also email me at Carrie@carriemosko.com to schedule an appointment.

Trauma is nothing to be ashamed of. It's more common than is often realized. Recognizing you have emotional wounds is the first step towards healing them.

Out.