Trauma is not a life sentence.
When you are in the throes of it, it may feel impossible that life will ever be any different.
But healing trauma is possible and new meaning can be found in the journey – there may be a greater appreciation of life, improved relationships, the opening of new opportunities and a deeper connection with others and nature.
There are different definitions and perspectives on what trauma is and it can get quite confusing, especially when considering that, subjected to the same event, some people may develop traumatic responses while others don’t.
At a basic level, trauma happens when:
- Our capacity to cope is overwhelmed
- We experience an event that happened too soon, too fast or was too much for us – could be a sudden loss, difficult separation, life threat or a potential/actual serious injury.
- We felt intense fear, helplessness and the sense of not being able to protect and defend ourself
- The event left emotional, psychological and physiological issues that can’t be processed and elaborated, made sense of and/or integrated.
Chronic experiences of heightened stress, not belonging and isolation also lead to trauma.
At a more complex level, trauma involves interpersonal threat, violence, and abuse, usually during multiple episodes or over a longer period of time, and is compounded when experienced in relationships.
Developmental trauma is experienced in childhood, when the brain and nervous system are still developing. It’s especially complex in the context of care or family relationships, where children may rely on the adults who are perpetuating the abuse, for their survival.
- Physical/emotional abuse
- Trauma associated with natural disasters (earthquakes, bushfires, floods etc.)
- Systemic racism
- Trauma associated with how we identify as a human
- High stress work environment
- Domestic violence
- Bullying
- Being denied your reality, “stop crying, that didn’t happen, move on, etc.”
- Emotional and physical neglect
- Parents divorcing, especially with high parental conflict
- Having to move continuously in childhood
- Having to live with domestic violence in childhood
Everyone’s capacity to cope is different and results from the interplay between genetics, epigenetics, physiology, sensitivity, personality, upbringing and personal circumstances.
And everyone has experienced some form of trauma.
The effects of trauma are broad and varied. At high level, trauma restricts your life, it keeps you stuck, it makes you feel uncomfortable in yourself and disconnects you to others, the world and the spiritual – whatever this may mean for you.
It makes you feel constantly on edge, going from zero to a hundred in a spilt second, easily startled and overwhelmed, or unsupported, lost, alone.
Behavioural disorders, addictive behaviours, negative self-beliefs, low self-worth can all point to trauma.
- Addictive behaviours (drinking, smoking, disordered eating etc)
- Attraction to dangerous situations
- Avoidance behaviours (including places, activities, memories or people)
- Anxiety, panic attacks and phobias
- Depression and feelings of impending doom
- Feelings of detachment, alienation, and isolation
- Reduced ability to deal with stress
- Difficulty sleeping
- Feeling numb or ‘spaced-out’
- Exaggerated or diminished sexual activity
- Inability to love, nurture, or bond with other individuals
- Diminished emotional responses
- Inability to make emotional commitments
- Fear of dying or having a shortened life
- Self-mutilation (such as self-inflicted cutting)
- Excessive shyness
- Fibromyalgia
- Asthma
- Immune system problems, chronic inflammatory conditions
- Digestive disorders such as small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) etc.
- Environmental sensitivities and biotoxin illness
“If I’m not busy constantly protecting myself all the time, I can finally rest, enjoy my life and my relationships and finally feel at peace”
Trauma is stored in the body and gets activated every time our nervous system unconsciously superimposes our past onto the present, perceiving threat even when the situation may actually be safe. Trauma responses – fight, flight, freeze and immobility – are then enacted as strategies to protect you and soothe the overwhelm.
To heal trauma is therefore critical to engage the body and the nervous system.
During our sessions, I support you to:
- Develop an awareness of how to resource yourself
- Bring safety to your body and mind
- Get to know how your trauma shows up in your life
- Find out how your body is communicating with you and what is trying to say
- Discharge and release the built-up trauma energy stuck in your body
- Access the natural restorative abilities of your system
- Develop healthy boundaries.
If you feel ready, here you can schedule a FREE intro chat