How We Define “Trauma” & Its Consequences
When people hear “trauma”, most thing of “big T” or “acute incident” trauma - a major event that threatens one life, leaving them feeling “traumatized”. Things like experiences of war, natural disasters, witnessing death or experiencing a violent act fall into this category.
However, “trauma” really means anything that causes overwhelming stress. A lot of this is “small T” trauma, or “little” events that many of us pass off as “normal” but can actually do great harm when persistently part of our lives (in fact, sometimes even more harm than big T traumas!). These could include bullying, having a parent who is really invalidating, living in a home where adults yell at each other/you regularly, or even just feeling ignored by important people in your world.
Given this, there are two ways of defining the consequences of trauma. First, is the traditional definition of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - which is usually linked to “big T” trauma, and is more common in individuals who also have complex histories. The second definition, however, is Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). At this point, CPTSD is not an official diagnosis; however, there is increasing attention being given to it. CPTSD often extends from persistent or chronic traumas/stressors over time in an individual’s life. It often involves more “small T” trauma and/or the experience of combined “big- and small- T” traumas over time.
More on EMDR…
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is one primary way we treat trauma in clients. But what is EMDR?
EMDR is unlike other therapies because it targets our neurological processes directly, rather than having us change through talk. It does this by using “bilateral stimulation” while thinking about traumatic/stressful things. This stimulates a part of the brain that helps the brain metabolize the traumatic memory - almost like the brain naturally does with day-to-day memories through REM sleep. This process essentially helps the brain take a traumatic memory out of the part of the brain that makes it still feel “present”/relevant now, as if it’s still happening (giving you the triggering reaction) and, instead, moves the memory to the brain’s “archive” section. You still remember it happened, but it feels in the past now.
To create this bilateral stimulation, we use eye movements, or sound, or vibrating hand pulsers, or tapping to stimulate the brain into action. Prior to this, however, EMDR also involves preparing clients with thorough history taking and emotional/behavioural resource strengthening so you feel capable of coping through the treatment.
The nature of EMDR also allows us to get to the root of traumatic memory. The EMDR process works almost like pulling up a dandelion. The traumatic “event” may be the “flower” on top, but below is a deep and long root/neural network in the drain that lead up to the event and the way we processed it. Targeting the root means we get the chance to see the world in a whole new way, while still taking important lessons from our past.
How I Treat “Trauma”
In essence, the goal of trauma treatment isn’t to try and “erase” memories. Often, we need, or even want, the “lesson” of the traumatic event(s). We just don’t want to be triggered any longer, or experiencing related symptoms (like high anxiety, mood crashes, low trust, low sense of power or control, poor self-esteem, etc.). So, reducing the reaction/triggering from trauma is a better description of the goal.
At Kernel of Wisdom, we approach this through a few different, evidence-based modalities. One approach is called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy. In EMDR, we try to “turn on” a part of the brain that recognizes its in a safe, present-moment environment while we target traumatic memories. This helps the brain metabolize/archive traumatic memories as past events. See more on EMDR below or read more on the EMDRIA page here.
We also use Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) to treat trauma. Like EMDR, DBR is a neuroscience-based treatment that uses natural brain functions to release trauma from the brain and body. DBR aims to access and process traumatic experience by tracking the original sequence of physiological responses that occurred when the deep brain had been alerted to a threat or an attachment disruption. To learn more, click here.
Another major trauma-modality we use is called Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). As a cognitive therapy, CPT focuses mostly on the thoughts linked to a traumatic incident, and reframing our thoughts to be more accurate surrounding the event. This is then paired with some exposure-therapy, where the individual starts to re-engage in the world and gather “proof” that the new, more balanced thoughts are beneficial.
