What is trauma?
There is not a simple answer to what trauma is; if you feel like you have had a traumatic experience, then you have experienced trauma. There are ways that our body holds onto experiences that resonate with trauma, even if we don’t identify with the term.
Typically, when we are talking about trauma, we are talking about a physical and emotional stress response:
- Amygdala activation (the stress center of the brain)
- Cortisol release (sometimes thought of as the “stress hormone”)
- Physical sensations (racing heart, stomach clenching, sweaty palms)
- Feelings of fear, anxiety, and/or worry
- Fight, flight, freeze, fawn response
Chronically stressful environments can lead to trauma responses in our system.
When we think of trauma, we often think of an acute event, but chronically stressful environments can lead to trauma responses in our system:
- Parental disengagement or not getting your emotional needs met in childhood
- Systemic racism and experiencing “micro aggressions”
- A home environment where there was physical or emotional abuse, whether or not you were directly targeted
- Bullying
- Having the validity of your identity or identities questioned or targeted
The good news is therapy can help. In therapy, we will explore your history and move towards healing at your pace. When appropriate, we will utilize EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) to reduce your somatic and emotional activation (Desensitize) and discover a more positive self-view (Reprocess) to address symptoms of depression, anxiety, and addiction that can be associated with traumatic or stressful experiences.
Contact me to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to learn about my therapeutic approach.