5 Things to Know About Trauma

Trauma and recovery have been a theme in my life – whether due to having experienced childhood abuse or systemic trauma. Therefore, delving into the topic of trauma hits close to home for me. Here are the most important things to know about trauma.Many people think that trauma is an exceptional life experience only a few people have. However, it is a human experience that most of us will experience in one form or another during our lives. The Canadian Psychological Association states that about 76% of Canadians experience a traumatic event throughout their lifetime (Ameringen, Mancini & Boyle, 2008). There are still many misconceptions about trauma out there, so let’s dive into five things to know about trauma that everyone should be aware of.

Things to know about trauma: Trauma goes beyond events

When we speak about trauma, we often talk about one event or a series of events like a natural disaster, rape, or a car accident. These events are usually clearly identifiable in our life stories. A less acknowledged fact is that trauma is more often associated with lasting conditions in one’s environment. My experience of trauma was due to lasting conditions rather than a single event – whether it was a dysfunctional family environment or being targeted by oppression. Reflecting on the experiences of my clients, I came to realize that most of them have experienced trauma due to enduring conditions in their environment.

What does lasting condition mean?

A child who grows up with abuse lives in an environment that is full of fear and insecurity. They are never truly safe. Their environment was likely threatening. This is an enduring condition and not a life-altering single event. Situations of domestic violence and social injustices like racism and oppression are also enduring conditions.The relentless circumstances leave scars that are harder to pinpoint since we lack explicit memories of them. The trauma may just be identifiable through its symptoms like numbing, dissociation, anxiety, or substance use, but we often don’t understand why we have them. While this can be confusing and frustrating, there is hope for healing, whether the trauma is anchored in events or due to enduring conditions.

Trauma is different for everyone

One thing people get confused about when it comes to trauma is that the event or the enduring condition itself doesn’t make the experience traumatic. Two people can go through the same event—one person may develop trauma, another person may not. Please note that it doesn’t mean one person is weak and the other is strong. This is an oversimplification of complex inner and outer conditions.The defining traits of trauma are that the event or enduring condition overwhelmed a person’s capacity to integrate the experience and that they saw it as a threat to their lives or the people they care for. Both traits are subjective: Individuals have different emotional capacities to integrate experiences, and we may experience other things as threats. Therefore, trauma may play out differently in two people.Children generally have less capacity to navigate painful experiences due to the stage in human development compared to adults. For example, they have not yet fully developed their window of tolerance. Situations of childhood abuse, neglect, abandonment, or witnessing violence often have a traumatic impact on a child, though a child usually finds adaptive skills to cope with their environment. Another point is that medical procedures can have a traumatic effect since a child is often separated from their parents. However, if trauma happens to a child, the response of a caregiver can leverage the negative impact on the child.As a result, trauma is an individual experience, depending on multiple factors. Only the individual can define whether something was traumatic for them.

Things to know about trauma: Memories are often implicit, not explicit

As stated before, we often have implicit memories about trauma and not explicit ones. What does this mean? We remember the event through body sensations and feelings when we have implicit memories. We feel these emotions and body sensations as if they are real in the present moment; however, they touch on past events as body memories. Therefore, we can’t connect them with a traumatic event in our past, but we experience them as something that goes on in the present moment.

How can we become aware of implicit memories?

While I will dig deeper into this in later blog posts, we may notice implicit memories if our body sensations and emotions are disproportionate to what is happening now. I had implicit memories of abandonment when my parents separated. Those memories were triggered in my adult relationships, so I had a disproportionately high fear of abandonment in romantic relationships. The first step for recovery is recognizing implicit memories and practicing mindfulness to learn to navigate them healthily.

Trauma and PTSD are not the same

Among the things to know about trauma is also that trauma and PTSD are different terminologies. We need to be aware that the science of trauma is constantly evolving. The Western world often views the signs and symptoms of trauma as a disorder that can stigmatize people who have survived trauma. The medical model treats mental health like physical health. Unfortunately, our human psyche is far more complex. A more modern perspective is to see the symptoms of trauma as a normal response to a threatening event or condition. One important thing to know about trauma is that PTSD is a diagnosis, while trauma is an experience. People can have experienced trauma and don’t fit the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.While I never sought a diagnosis of PTSD, it can be validating for some people. I noticed in my workshops about Trauma and Recovery that there is some confusion about the terms trauma and PTSD. Some of the participants did not feel validated because they did not receive a diagnosis of PTSD.

Here is some guidance about PTSD and trauma:

The term “PTSD” (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a diagnosis based on the criteria described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses (DSM-5). The American Psychiatric Association issues the DSM-5, mainly used in North America. In Europe, PTSD is more likely defined by the criteria of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which the World Health Organization develops. These criteria have also changed over the different versions of the DSM. An individual receives a PTSD diagnosis if they fit into the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The prevalence rate of PTSD is between 1.3% and 37.4% on a global level and 9.2% in Canada (Ameringen, Mancini & Boyle, 2008). As you can see, this percentage is lower than the percentage of people who experienced trauma.Not everyone who has experienced trauma fits into the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Therefore, they won’t receive a diagnosis. This doesn’t mean that their trauma or their symptoms aren’t valid. It just means that their symptoms don’t fit the diagnostic criteria of PTSD in the DSM or ICD.

Things to know about trauma: Recovery is possible

Last but not least – let’s look at trauma recovery. There are many negative stereotypes and biases out there that may prevent us from starting our recovery. Our society perpetuates stigmatizing beliefs about trauma. The counselling field has believed for a long time that people can only learn to cope with the symptoms of trauma but not heal them. While this is not true, beliefs like “we are forever broken” or “trauma is a lifetime sentence” often create barriers to recovery. While they aren’t true, it’s usually a sign that we have internalized stigma.I delayed my healing journey for years because I believed that these stigmatizing perspectives were valid. One day, I found the courage to do it anyway—over time, I noticed that these beliefs weren’t true. Acknowledging what happened to me isn’t about dwelling on the past but understanding how the experiences have shaped me, learning to embrace all parts of me, and transforming them into strengths.

Healing trauma requires a trauma-focused approach.

Healing it – in a trauma-focused approach that integrates trauma-informed practices – is essential so that the traumatic past loses its power over us. Recovery doesn’t mean that you need to jump into painful stories right away (or tell them at all). The first phase of recovery is about restoring safety and stabilizing – this may include skill building to navigate painful emotions or grounding techniques and work with the existing symptoms of trauma.The second phase is resolution and mourning if clients feel confident with their skills. As a trauma counsellor and trauma recovery coach, I use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in this phase. I like the method because it allows people to integrate the memories while they can choose how much they want to share about their story. The final phase of trauma resolution is about reconnection.

Recovery is not a linear process.

Please don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that healing is easy. It takes effort to heal from trauma. Sometimes, it will be messy. Often, recovery will have its ups and downs. Commonly, we are scared of change if it means looking at something that overwhelmed and threatened us. An important lesson of my systemic training was the truth: “Everything that is excluded will persist.” When we have experienced trauma, we often want to avoid looking at it. However, this means that the trauma will continue to dominate our lives. Therefore, healing trauma – in a trauma-informed way – means that it slowly loses its power over us.Recovery also doesn’t mean that what happened to you was ok – incidents of rape, childhood abuse, systemic oppression, or racism are not ok and never will be. However, the effects of these incidents will dominate our well-being until we start our recovery. We cannot change the facts of what happened to us, but we can find inner freedom from the shadows of past trauma.

Take away

In conclusion, trauma is a common element of our human experience. An experience is traumatic if it overwhelms our capacity to integrate it and if it is a (subjective or objective) threat to our lives or those we care for. Trauma is complex and highly individualized. While recovery takes effort, it is possible. The voices of stigma are still present in our society and do not help support recovery. Each person will have a unique recovery journey. Trauma treatment needs to integrate a phase model so that people can heal in the safest way possible.

“Paradox of trauma: Power to destroy and power to transform and resurrect.” Peter A. Levine