What is trauma?

Trauma is a word without a clear definition. What one person sees as a traumatic live event may not be categorized as traumatic to the next, but needless to say we all experience trauma at sometime in our life. Trauma can broadly be broken down into incidental and developmental trauma, while social trauma can intersect both.

Social trauma (link to full blog eventually on social trauma) is systemic oppression such as, racism, sexism, homophobia and homelessness.

Incidental trauma (link to full blog on incidental trauma) is a car accident, natural disaster, the loss of a loved one, being raped or surviving a war.

Developmental trauma (link to full blog on developmental trauma) is when the source of abuse or neglect starts at a younger age, is repeated and cumulative.  

It is believed that your response to a trauma, and lack of support during it, is more likely to determine whether there will be long-term effects from the experience. A body-centered view of trauma is any experience that is too overwhelming for your nervous system to handle.  You were not resourced enough, for a number of possible reasons, to complete the unmanageable energy through your body to resolve it. This energy got bound and stored in your connective tissue. It may not prevent you from functioning as an adult, but it may restrict the range of your self-expression or decrease your ability to feel pleasure emotionally and physically.

Let me help you unwind the effects of past trauma so you can live fully expressed in the present.