What is Trauma?

Trauma is understood as a nervous system response of overwhelm, helplessness, horror, and despair to experiences that should have never happened (e.g., abuse, violence, war, poverty) as well as to experiences that should have happened but never did (e.g., co-regulation, love, security, belonging, significance). I often meet clients who don’t realize they have experienced any trauma until they learn that trauma is not defined by a particular event or experience that took place in the past, but instead shows up as many faces of suffering present in our behaviors, fears, obsessions, and shame. We learn that our present symptoms are in fact brilliant protective strategies aimed to “help” us as if the trauma was still happening rather than a sign that we are mentally ill or a “bad” person.

Seeking help for trauma is brave because it requires us to be curious about our pain (or the absence of pain) and to cultivate the willingness to travel through it. It is courageous to make the decision to go inside and address what is present, to listen to our nervous system perhaps for the first time, and I am privileged to be able to accompany and support you during this process.

Below are potential signs of trauma that may manifest alongside or independently of any conscious recollection of the traumatic experience: