Trauma refers to the mind or body being overwhelmed by a sense of intense fear, helplessness or horror...
The term trauma refers to the mind or body being overwhelmed by a sense of intense fear, helplessness or horror, when experiencing or learning of an event that is perceived as threatening serious injury, harm or death to self or another.
Trauma can be both overt and covert. Overt trauma is usually easier to identify and can occur when a person is exposed to directly or vicariously to an horrific event, such as a car accident, war or being violently attacked. Covert trauma however, is often not recognized or well understood, and unfortunately for many, is prevalent throughout their lives. Examples of covert trauma , may be seen in childhood neglect or other scenarios of emotional abandonment and overwhelming by another.
Trauma responses may be immediate and apparent, however, at other times they can be delayed and not always obvious to the trauma survivor or those around them. In many instances however, a person who has experienced trauma may display some of the following trauma symptoms -
- appear relationally disengaged,
- experience emotional and / or physical numbness,
- anxiety or even depression,
- experience flashbacks of the event,
- demonstrate emotions that indicate a sense of overwhelm
- feelings of fear and extreme vulnerability are also common
Traumatic Responses and Sources
Dependent upon a myriad of contributing factors, how we respond to a traumatic event today, may differ from how we respond to a similarly horrifying event in the future. Further, each person’s response to trauma is unique and individual, and as such is appropriate to their situation. Some people may not appear affected by a traumatic event, however, particularly in the case of combined and cumulative traumas, others can be debilitated by the experience and struggle to function in daily life.
Some of the major sources of overt trauma include – natural disasters, child abuse, shootings, fires and burns, car or transport accidents, rape and sexual assault, neglect, physical assault, domestic abuse, torture, sex trafficking, war, murder, suicide, life threatening illness or medical procedures, emotional abuse, major losses or separations, or ongoing trauma exposure for emergency workers.
Any event in which the individual experienced the threat of his or her own or another’s life or self-integrity, can lead to the need for trauma counselling and support.
At The Grove Counselling & Therapy, we bring a trauma informed approach to our work. We believe that as humans we have an innate drive towards making sense of our world, and as such, towards processing our traumatic experiences. Acknowledging the incredible courage that it can take to seek help, our counsellors work gently with our clients and apply a multi-faceted and collaborative approach to trauma treatment.
Ultimately supporting our clients to find greater ease in life, we help our clients to:
- connect to their strengths and resources both internally and externally,
- develop skills to transform their trauma symptoms,
- make sense of their experiences both in the past and today,
- discover new ways of thinking about themselves and what has happened in their life,
- find increased resilience to trauma triggers.
If you fear that you may have experienced some trauma, it is advisable that you seek counselling treatment. Even if you feel okay today, issues can arise weeks, months and even years down the road if the trauma is not appropriately acknowledged or processed.