<blockquote>
<p>It is often said that therapy or meeting a psychologist allows one to overcome trauma and let go of hidden pains...what would mean for a person to be psychologically troubled?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, physical assault or natural disaster (<a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/disasters-response/recovering" rel="nofollow noreferrer">APA, 2013</a>).</p>
<p>Repeated childhood abuse, for example, can be just as traumatic as one single incident of sexual assault. Trauma affects different people in different ways (<a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/trauma/effects-of-trauma/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mind, n.d.</a>; <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014</a>).</p>
<p>Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks (<a href="https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/overview/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NHS, n.d.</a>), strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea (<a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/depression-can-be-a-real-pain-1065455" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Very Well Mind, 2020</a>).</p>
<p>While these feelings are normal, some people have difficulty moving on with their lives. Psychotherapists and Psychologists can help these people process their memories in a safe environment, and find constructive ways of managing their emotions.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>how would one know for themselves that they overcome their trauma? How would the therapist know?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Those who have overcome their trauma can move on with their lives comfortably. They are no longer anxious and they are free of the severe emotional effects of the past events which caused the psychological issue(s).</p>
<p><strong>They will never forget the past events</strong>. At the end of the day, they happened and nobody can change that. But, <strong>those affected by trauma who have gone through effective therapy can remember the past events without being so affected by them</strong>.</p>
<h2>References</h2>
<p>APA (2013). <em>Recovering emotionally from disaster</em>  <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/disasters-response/recovering" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.apa.org/topics/disasters-response/recovering</a></p>
<p>Mind (n.d.). <em>Trauma</em> <a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/trauma/effects-of-trauma/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/trauma/effects-of-trauma/</a></p>
<p>NHS (n.d.). <em>Overview - Post-traumatic stress disorder</em> <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/overview/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/overview/</a></p>
<p>Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2014). Chapter 3: Understanding the Impact of Trauma. In: <em>Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 57.</em> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/</a></p>
<p>Very Well Mind (2020). <em>An Overview of Psychosomatic Illness: How Your Stress and Depression Can Really Make You Sick</em> <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/depression-can-be-a-real-pain-1065455" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.verywellmind.com/depression-can-be-a-real-pain-1065455</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-31T14:00:21.553Z
Could you expand the definition of trauma a little? Specifically, what about _series_ of terrible events (say, repeated childhood abuse) as opposed to a single event (say, a single incident of sexual assault). And how do these two differ with regard to physiological changes in the brain/rest of the nervous system? For example, the MRI of the same person before depression, after years of chronic depression, and yet again after more years of treatment (even non-pharmaceutical treatment) can have clearly visible differences. What about single traumatic event vs. series of traumatic events?
Sixtyfive
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-31T14:07:53.770Z
@Sixtyfive repeated childhood abuse can be just as traumatic as one single incident of sexual assault. Trauma affects different people in different ways. https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/trauma/effects-of-trauma/ (see also: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/).
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-31T14:16:12.110Z
Of course, Chris! Let me try to clarify: is it possible, through medical imaging, to tell apart single-event traumata from multiple-event traumata irrespective of the patients' subjective experiences?
Sixtyfive
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-31T14:20:30.827Z
@Sixtyfive That would be a very interesting separate question you could ask. I don't know the answer to that at the moment and I certainly would vote it up. It stands to reason as I seem to remember seeing something to the effect that you can see differences in MRI scans between short term sufferers of depression compared to long term sufferers.
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-31T21:00:55.523Z
Yes, because of how visible the differences in MRI scans are with regard to depression, I'm wondering about trauma. Fair enough, though, that would indeed be a question of its own. I'll try to do some digging on the weekend and see if I can come up with one.
Sixtyfive
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-31T21:02:25.293Z
By the way, what happens often with trauma is dissociation, which in itself can be dangerous and can be addressed quite well with various forms of psychotherapy. Perhaps a good idea to work that into the answer as well?
Sixtyfive
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-01T07:58:25.240Z
@Sixtyfive dissociation is not typical (not a large proportion dissociates). However, in those cases it is a double edged sword. It can be helpful during the traumatic event in order to prevent a number of issues, but continued dissociation is not helpful.
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-01T09:05:36.160Z
Anyways, @OP asked for what happens _precisely_ in the process of a person overcoming trauma. While I upvoted your answer because I think it's a good one, I also feel that some aspects (such as dissociation, which _can_ be found out and addressed during therapy) are missing to approach the "precisely" part.
Sixtyfive
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-31T05:41:15.487Z
2021-08-31T14:16:52.823Z
2021-08-31T14:16:52.823Z
Chris Rogers
<p>It is often said that therapy or meeting a psychologist allows one to overcome trauma and let go of hidden pains. It is not clear to me exactly what the process of therapy entails—how would one know for themselves that they overcome their trauma? How would the therapist know?</p>
<p>There is another side to this as well, what would it mean for a person to be psychologically troubled? And, what would it mean for a person to be psychologically cured?</p>
<p>Due to the inherently subjective nature of reality, I can not imagine that one could argue their perception is of any greater veracity than the other's perception. This last point I know to be a topic of philosophical debate, but I think it is important for one to contemplate the issue from all angles.</p>

<therapy><trauma>
Precisely, what does it mean for a person to overcome psychological trauma?
Brian
# Precisely, what does it mean for a person to overcome psychological trauma?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-08-31)

It is often said that therapy or meeting a psychologist allows one to overcome trauma and let go of hidden pains. It is not clear to me exactly what the process of therapy entails—how would one know for themselves that they overcome their trauma? How would the therapist know?

There is another side to this as well, what would it mean for a person to be psychologically troubled? And, what would it mean for a person to be psychologically cured?

Due to the inherently subjective nature of reality, I can not imagine that one could argue their perception is of any greater veracity than the other's perception. This last point I know to be a topic of philosophical debate, but I think it is important for one to contemplate the issue from all angles.

**Tags:** therapy, trauma


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-08-31. Score: 4

> It is often said that therapy or meeting a psychologist allows one to overcome trauma and let go of hidden pains...what would mean for a person to be psychologically troubled?

Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, physical assault or natural disaster ([APA, 2013](https://www.apa.org/topics/disasters-response/recovering)).

Repeated childhood abuse, for example, can be just as traumatic as one single incident of sexual assault. Trauma affects different people in different ways ([Mind, n.d.](https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/trauma/effects-of-trauma/); [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/)).

Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks ([NHS, n.d.](https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/overview/)), strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea ([Very Well Mind, 2020](https://www.verywellmind.com/depression-can-be-a-real-pain-1065455)).

While these feelings are normal, some people have difficulty moving on with their lives. Psychotherapists and Psychologists can help these people process their memories in a safe environment, and find constructive ways of managing their emotions.

> how would one know for themselves that they overcome their trauma? How would the therapist know?

Those who have overcome their trauma can move on with their lives comfortably. They are no longer anxious and they are free of the severe emotional effects of the past events which caused the psychological issue(s).

**They will never forget the past events**. At the end of the day, they happened and nobody can change that. But, **those affected by trauma who have gone through effective therapy can remember the past events without being so affected by them**.

## References

APA (2013). *Recovering emotionally from disaster* <https://www.apa.org/topics/disasters-response/recovering>

Mind (n.d.). *Trauma* <https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/trauma/effects-of-trauma/>

NHS (n.d.). *Overview - Post-traumatic stress disorder* <https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/overview/>

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2014). Chapter 3: Understanding the Impact of Trauma. In: *Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 57.* <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/>

Very Well Mind (2020). *An Overview of Psychosomatic Illness: How Your Stress and Depression Can Really Make You Sick* <https://www.verywellmind.com/depression-can-be-a-real-pain-1065455>

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Could you expand the definition of trauma a little? Specifically, what about _series_ of terrible events (say, repeated childhood abuse) as opposed to a single event (say, a single incident of sexual assault). And how do these two differ with regard to physiological changes in the brain/rest of the nervous system? For example, the MRI of the same person before depression, after years of chronic depression, and yet again after more years of treatment (even non-pharmaceutical treatment) can have clearly visible differences. What about single traumatic event vs. series of traumatic events?  
> **username_1**: @username_2 repeated childhood abuse can be just as traumatic as one single incident of sexual assault. Trauma affects different people in different ways. https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/trauma/effects-of-trauma/ (see also: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/).  
> **username_2**: Of course, Chris! Let me try to clarify: is it possible, through medical imaging, to tell apart single-event traumata from multiple-event traumata irrespective of the patients' subjective experiences?  
> **username_1**: @username_2 That would be a very interesting separate question you could ask. I don't know the answer to that at the moment and I certainly would vote it up. It stands to reason as I seem to remember seeing something to the effect that you can see differences in MRI scans between short term sufferers of depression compared to long term sufferers.  
> **username_2**: Yes, because of how visible the differences in MRI scans are with regard to depression, I'm wondering about trauma. Fair enough, though, that would indeed be a question of its own. I'll try to do some digging on the weekend and see if I can come up with one.  
> **username_2**: By the way, what happens often with trauma is dissociation, which in itself can be dangerous and can be addressed quite well with various forms of psychotherapy. Perhaps a good idea to work that into the answer as well?  
> **username_1**: @username_2 dissociation is not typical (not a large proportion dissociates). However, in those cases it is a double edged sword. It can be helpful during the traumatic event in order to prevent a number of issues, but continued dissociation is not helpful.  
> **username_2**: Anyways, @OP asked for what happens _precisely_ in the process of a person overcoming trauma. While I upvoted your answer because I think it's a good one, I also feel that some aspects (such as dissociation, which _can_ be found out and addressed during therapy) are missing to approach the "precisely" part.  

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