“ Trauma“ has become a very significant term, not only in the mental health profession but also in the broader culture. Within the past decade, numerous books, podcasts, and blogs have emerged with trauma as their focus. Celebrities have spoken out about their own traumatic experiences, and many individuals have openly told their stories of how traumatic events have changed their lives for better or worse. It is both promising and hopeful that as a culture we are striving to better understand what trauma is, how it affects our body and brain, and how we can heal from the impact and move forward.
However, as these conversations have become more common, we have started to use the word more broadly than is supported by its clinical application. In everyday speech “traumatic” has become a synonym for “bad” or “upsetting.” The purpose of this blog is to define trauma, clarify what distinguishes it from other negative events, and explain why it’s important to do so.
Webster defines trauma as “a disordered psychic or emotional state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress, or physical injury.“ Other definitions that I have recently read add that trauma occurs in situations where the person feels threatened or they cannot escape from the event. From a vocabulary standpoint, most sources agree that a traumatic event is both severe and inescapable. Recent publications from experts in the field of trauma have convincingly communicated that trauma affects both the body and the brain in an enduring way if it is not addressed through psychological treatment.
Most people have typically heard of three common types of trauma. Combat PTSD is the type of trauma experienced by those in the military who are deployed on assignment and exposed to violence in the midst of warfare. Much has been written and spoken about the impact of combat PTSD long after veterans have returned home. A second type of trauma that is often the subject of dialogue is that which occurs after a rape or sexual assault, or sexual abuse. Sexual trauma has long been a taboo subject, but it has recently come to the forefront as more victims are willing to talk about their experiences. Then, there is the trauma experienced by victims of violent crimes, such as robberies, shootings, and other incidents that may involve more than one victim. These three types of trauma are ones most people have heard about, and they are events that are clearly understood as traumatic.
However, more recently, much more attention has been given to complex trauma which does not involve a single incident but rather is the occurrence of adverse and traumatic events over an extended period of time. An example would be a household in which family members constantly fought, were physically or emotionally abusive toward each other, and engaged in toxic interactions on an ongoing basis. Complex trauma does not have to involve physical abuse; it can involve forms of emotional abuse such as constant ridicule, shaming, manipulation, or neglect within a relationship. It can include the sudden loss of a loved one in a tragic accident, or other shocking and sudden changes in one’s life. Complex trauma generally involves multiple events during which the person is forced to endure harmful or tragic circumstances.
One reason it is so important to understand the various types of trauma is so we can also understand that not everything bad that happens to us is considered trauma. While only we can evaluate the extent to which negative circumstances affect us physically and emotionally, we want to be aware that defining everything that happens to us as trauma could be harmful to our resiliency. It’s important to believe that some of our experiences are escapable. And to effectively process the things which were indeed traumatic, we must separate what we can control from what we cannot. We want to understand what profoundly affects our well-being and emotional stability and what is disappointing or negative, but does not have the same enduring physical and emotional impact.
Finally, the manner in which we approach trauma informed therapy needs to include evidence-based treatments, as well as the perspective that people can heal from trauma, move forward, and build resilience. We want clients to feel empowered in their healing process, rather than defined by the traumatic events they endured. The goal of the trauma informed approach is to understand how trauma affects current functioning, but it’s not intended to identify the person as permanently damaged. People can derive great strength and courage from what they have overcome, and they can have healthy relationships, successful achievements, and a life full of meaning and joy.
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