TRAUMA WORK

Trauma is one of the most misunderstood words in the public perception. We tend to think of abuse victims, survivors of violence, or combat veterans as being the only people suffering from trauma. This is far from true. Certainly those categories of people are in need of trauma treatment. But I think of “trauma” as ANY experience that is so overwhelming to the emotional system that it cannot reset and return to a neutral state.

Anyone who reflects on a lifetime of experience is bound to uncover some memory of an experience that contributed to a core wound or negative belief about ourselves, and most people are unaware on the huge role such memories can play in our current emotional distress. Traumatic events get locked into the emotional system, and then intense emotion can be triggered by seemingly inconsequential events or challenges. Stress triggers emotion that feels completely out of proportion to what’s happening in the situation. This is a sure sign that past trauma is playing a current role in our experience.