What is Trauma?

What exactly is ‘trauma’? 

In my career as a helper, one of the most common questions I ask new clients is, “have you ever experienced any traumatic events?” Not always, but often, clients respond with, “what do you mean by a traumatic event?” I have noticed that clinicians, mental health advocates, and even media personalities throw around the word ‘trauma’ quite a bit, but many people do not know what all that entails.  

So what exactly is ‘trauma’? Maybe when you think about trauma, you think about someone who has served in active combat. While you would be correct, trauma experiences go far beyond military service. As a psychotherapist, I define trauma as any experiences you may have had where your core belief system (i.e., ‘people are generally good,’ ‘I am safe,’ etc.) and/or your survival was threatened in some way. Using that as a working definition, it is highly likely that almost everyone has experienced some type of trauma in their lifetime. Traumatic experiences can range from intimate partner violence to car accidents to bullying in school. Sometimes, individuals experience single-event ‘big T traumas’ like surviving a natural disaster or sexual abuse. Sometimes, individuals experience multiple ‘little t traumas’ like losing a job or the death of a loved one. Many times, we as humans experience a combination of T(t)raumas throughout our lifetimes, and we can certainly feel the impacts of these events.  

Regardless of whether you have only experienced Traumas or traumas, our physical bodies cannot distinguish the difference and will still respond in the same way. You will still experience reactions like nightmares or feeling ‘on edge.’ Think of like this: you are carrying a backpack in life, and each traumatic experience is added weight to the backpack. For every Trauma, you add 5 pounds; for every trauma, you add 2 pounds. It does not matter if you have only 2 Traumas or only 5 traumas—the backpack is still going to be the same weight! And that is OKAY—we are humans having lived experiences. Experiencing traumas does not mean that we are broken or damaged. These are things that happen to us; they do not have to define who we are.  

If you are interested in talking about your own traumatic experiences or finding out more information on how EMDR therapy helps us process traumatic experiences, I would love to walk this journey alongside you!  

-Dr. Lindsey