What Are PTSD and Trauma?
PTSD and Trauma are the mixes of stressful events and the impact that these events have on our individual bodies and minds.
Trauma, in a literal sense, originates from the Greek term for wound or injury and is used to describe (1) a traumatic event(s) or stressor, (2), or behavioral reaction to that stressor, and (3) our physiological response to the stressor. One might reasonably assume that trauma is only the result of a singular event that is perceived as life-threatening. However, this is not always the case; the definition of trauma is relative. One person’s trauma could be another person’s painful but manageable experience, regardless of how the event was perceived at that very moment. Additionally, there are many types of trauma, such as PTSD, vicarious trauma, secondary trauma, and complex trauma. It can show up differently based on life circumstances.
Let’s begin by understanding more about complex trauma, PTSD, vicarious trauma, and more.
DO YOU OFTEN...
Fear trusting others?
Have vivid nightmares?
Is fear never being able to let go of the past?
Feel afraid or unsafe, even in moments of safety?
Get easily set off by moments of discomfort? where you feel like fighting back, shutting down, or fleeing the situation?
Struggle with feeling on edge and anxious constantly?
Have difficulty controlling emotional reactions, and feel “escalated” or “numb”?
IF THE ANSWER IS “YES” TO ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS, YOU MAY HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY A TRAUMATIC EVENT AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE.
TRAUMA IS A BODILY STATE of feeling deeply uncomfortable, hyper-aroused, or not feeling anything at all. The degree to which your body keeps reacting defines the depth of your trauma. Trauma is equal to the damage done to, or impact inflicted on the body’s control hub for stress management also called the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). The natural stress response in a regulated body is when an external stressor sends a charge of energy into this control hub, this energy is then subsequently discharged, and a resolution is achieved.
THE RESTORATIVE FUNCTION or the relaxation response, similar to a shock absorber, is responsible for the smooth running of the ANS and the preservation of equilibrium in our bodies. Trauma occurs when a threatening event or interaction sends a massive adrenaline rush into the ANS, which does not achieve resolution. Essentially, this energy then gets bound up or tied into the nervous system like a thickly clogged artery. The stress hormones that are shot out and are meant to help us move, or fight back, or flee, stay in a constant state of release. This continuous secretion of hormones results in our bodies being stuck in a state of overactivation where we move into a state of helpless collapse.
WHEN THIS HAPPENS OVER TIME through constant exposure to trauma, the filtering system of the brain is altered so you become hypersensitive to certain sounds, or you have difficulty filtering irrelevant information. Gradually, you start anticipating and experiencing threats everywhere. Instead of being focused on what is going on right now, your mind stays on the alert for threats, whilst also feeling completely helpless to do anything about it.
As a result, the restorative or balancing function can no longer do its job effectively, resulting in dysregulation of the entire system and a myriad of symptoms that we commonly associate with a traumatic injury.
What is EMDR Therapy?
I am an EMDR Certified Therapist and Consultant with EMDRIA, and on the training team at EMDR Education and Training Center.
EMDR Therapy focuses on the individual’s present concerns and symptoms while proposing emotionally charged experiences from one’s past. This may have a dominating effect on one’s current emotions, sensations, and thoughts. For example “Do you ever feel unlovable although you have profound love in your life?” EMDR therapy processing helps you break through the emotional blocks that may be keeping you from living an adaptive, liberated, and emotionally fulfilling life.
EMDR uses rapid sets of eye movements to help you update disturbing experiences, much like what occurs when we sleep. During sleep, we alternate between regular sleep and REM (rapid eye movement). This sleep pattern helps you process things that are troubling you. EMDR therapy replicates this sleep pattern by alternating between eye movements and brief reports or processing of what you are noticing. This alternating process helps you update your memories to a healthier emotional presence.
Trauma Treatment
EMDR Therapy
EMDR Therapy is often used to treat trauma, address traumatic memories, and develop external and internal tools for building resiliency and strength. EMDR uses several forms of “bilateral stimulation” such as eye movements, tons and right-left tapping. This type of stimulation allows for individuals to direct attention to both sides of the body, and as a result, across the midline of our brain and central nervous system. This is done along with the reprocessing of traumatic memories. EMDR therapy allows for the coalesce of the emotional and cognitive parts of the brain while processing painful memories and feelings in a safe environment, where resolution is possible.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction technique help individuals have greater access to their capacity to live in the moment, avoid rumination and negative thought cycles, and reduce their stress levels overall. Mindfulness involves simply being present with one’s immediate experience of thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations in a non-judgmental fashion, using the breath as an anchor.
Parts Work
Parts work come from Internal family systems that synchesizes family systems theory with theories of the natural multiplicity of our minds. Internal family systems allow for people to safely explore their inner psychic world and explore why “parts” of themselves developed in response to traumatic, shaming or frightening events, or traumatic loss.
