Trauma could be defined as any experience our current psychological functioning does not know how to successful cope with that lead to long term mal-adaptive psychological patterns.  Traumatic experiences could be childhood abuse or neglect, such as childhood abandonment by family members, that is beyond the child’s abilities to cope with, adult abuse or experiences stemming from exposure to natural disasters, violence or wars. Whenever anyone experiences a traumatic event, it may have lasting impacts on the integrated psychological and neurological functioning of that individual.

Current research is bringing to light the neurological disintegration that can occur as a result of traumatic experiences. For example, certain types of experiences can literally disconnect the neural pathways that manage emotional reactions from higher level thinking functions. This can lead to traumatized individuals having confusing experiences that feel like a flood of scary, sad or angry emotions that feel beyond their control or understanding.

Many times symptoms that feel like depression, anxiety or other psychological challenges can be the result of unhealed trauma. There are very few, in any, humans who have lived life without any traumatic experiences. Some traumatic experiences individuals are able to spontaneously cope with and heal from while other experiences require the help of a therapeutic relationship to regain healthy, happy life functioning. 

In therapy, we work to understand the impacts of any kind of trauma on an individual’s current educational, occupational, relational, emotional and physical functioning. This involves a combination of therapy providing a new level of body and emotional awareness, and using the therapeutic relationship as a working space to create new, more integrated experiences of emotions and challenging situations. The good news is that the brain is capable of developing new integrated patterns. Therapy can facilitate this integration.

Trauma Resources