Here at Counselling Connections this week one question has been on our minds above any other. It’s a simple question that a colleague asked over a coffee break. The question is What is Trauma? It stopped a few of us in our tracks because, for all that we deal with trauma all the time, and we feel that we know what it is, its not that easy to define. In other words, the question became, ‘how would you define trauma simply? And we decided we’d have a go at it and share it with you, our readers.

So, if the challenge is to find a simple definition of trauma let’s begin with a simple answer: Trauma is a shock to the psyche.  We were agreed that this was a good beginning. The shock to the psyche definition mer with general approval. Then there were all kinds of additional factors to take into account.

Firstly, let’s not start getting into trying too hard here to expand on what we mean by the psyche. Some of our number could spend all day talking about differing theories of the mind and how theorists describe various functions and parts of the psyche. Interestingly, most ideas about how the mind works separate the functions of the psyche into three separate functions. Maybe that’s a whole other post.

Let’s go back to our shock definition. There are many factors which help to categorise different kinds of shocking experiences. One simple one is the shock of a single, major event. This could be, for example, a road traffic accident, a common traumatic experience. There are a number of factors here: the seriousness of the accident; injury to the self, or to others; the immediate response of other people involved. For example, if another participant in an accident reacts with anger or blame this can greatly affect the experience of the trauma for the victim.

Further considerations include the possibility of being held accountable for the accident, perhaps including the law and being charged with a motoring offence. Even to be held blameless can result in traumatic after effects. It can shake our belief in the safety of the world which we become accustomed to until it is lost in this way. Injury to ourselves or to others in a road traffic accident will cause a traumatic effect and needs a bit of work in therapy to come to terms with. This is greatly increased when an accident causes the death of another, whether that be a loved one travelling with us or to a random stranger involved in a collision.

A violent event is in the same category of major trauma. This can include when violence is directed at us personally or if we are a witness to it. Often such violence is quite senseless. An event, which we experience, often correctly, as life or death will involve a perpetrator who is in an altered state for whatever reason. When trying to come to terms with these events our minds search for meaming often where there is none and this takes a bit of working out in therapy.

Then there are a whole range of traumatic kinds of things that happen in the family home. These include the addiction of a parent to alcohol or another substance. These an often lead to chronic trauma which means that the same kinds of incident can happen repeatedly again and again over many years. Our minds react to these chronic events by making adaptions to survive the events which can affect us in later life.

Those latter kinds of traumatic events often involve being a witness to violence or arguments. Another kind of chronic trauma is when another person inflicts some kind of pain or invasive action on our body. These can include a single event, like a rape, or a series of events like the sexual abuse of a child. There are a range of adaptions that our mind makes to survive these kinds of traumatic events. These can be worked out, slowly, over time in a safe therapeutic setting.

Many factors affect the level of trauma that someone might experience as a result of these events. Past experience of trauma and past experience of loss or bereavement can resurface following even a relatively minor new event.

Theories of the mind and understandings of traumatic responses to events are well studied and understood. We have specialists here in Counselling Connections. We’d be glad to hear from you if you wanted to begin your own journey into uncovering and exploring your own experiences. We understand that, above all else, the road to healing involves having an understanding and sensitive witness to your therapeutic journey.

Counselling Connections.