Trauma Definitions
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I’m giving some talks next week. Scary scary! My least favorite place is in front of a group of people. But I got important stuff to say! So I’m going to my least favorite place and saying some stuff. About trauma and healing and meditation. Hopefully, doing this scary scary thing will lead to insights which will lead to future brilliant blog posts. Or at least some good public speaking horror stories. In the meantime, I’ll be using a lot of trauma lingo in my talks, so I made a list of definitions and sources. There are also some book suggestions at the end. For anyone interested in learning more about trauma, read on!
Helpful definitions:
These definitions are not comprehensive, but are meant as a starting point for understanding some of the terms I use in my talk. I’ve included links to the sources of the definitions in the hope that you will seek out more knowledge and understanding on the subjects of trauma and healing.
Trigger:
A trigger is something that sets off a memory tape or flashback transporting the person back to the event of her/his original trauma.
https://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-a-trigger/
PTSD:
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violent personal assault...
People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their experience that last long after the traumatic event has ended. They may relive the event through flashbacks or nightmares; they may feel sadness, fear or anger; and they may feel detached or estranged from other people. People with PTSD may avoid situations or people that remind them of the traumatic event, and they may have strong negative reactions to something as ordinary as a loud noise or an accidental touch.
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd
Psycho-somatic:
Of, relating to, concerned with, or involving both mind and body; of, relating to, involving, or concerned with bodily symptoms caused by mental or emotional disturbance.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psychosomatic
Sympathetic Nervous System
When facing down a ferocious lion, an oncoming car or maybe just an impending deadline, our bodies trigger a physical stress response that prepares us to either fight or flee the scene. This "fight-or-flight" response is driven by the sympathetic nervous system, a normally harmonized network of brain structures, nerves and hormones that, if thrown off balance, can result in serious complications.
https://www.livescience.com/65446-sympathetic-nervous-system.html
Freeze Response
Almost everyone is familiar with the fight or flight response—your reaction to a stimulus perceived as an imminent threat to your survival. However, less well-known is the fight-flight-freeze response, which adds a crucial dimension to how you’re likely to react when the situation confronting you overwhelms your coping capacities and leaves you paralyzed in fear.
Safe Space
This is my personal definition of a safe space because it’s going to be different for everyone. For me, as a survivor, a safe space is a place where the nature of trauma is thoroughly understood and handled with gentleness and care. Those around me know and are not upset by the fact that triggers can send my mind, body, and emotions into a state not congruent with the present moment, and they do not shame, blame, reject, or exclude me for it any way. In fact, this experience is embraced as a potential opportunity for healing. I am invited to communicate my needs, whatever they may be. And I am treated with respect, kindness, and as much skill and knowledge as possible in determining the best way to work with my trauma and triggers--with the goal of regulating my mind, body, and emotions so that I can return to the present moment and a sense of personal security.
Survivor
Again, this is my personal definition. I choose to call myself a survivor because “rape victim” feels disempowering to me. “Survivor” helps me think of what I’ve experienced as a source of insight, compassion, and strength. But other people have very different and equally valid reasons for the different words they may choose to apply to themselves and their experiences.
https://integratedlistening.com/what-is-trauma/
https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/stages-of-trauma-recovery-what-it-means-to-be-a-survivor-0803155
Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy is a holistic therapy that studies the relationship between the mind and body in regard to psychological past. The theory behind somatic therapy is that trauma symptoms are the effects of instability of the ANS (autonomic nervous system). Past traumas disrupt the ANS.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about-trauma/201309/sensorimotor-psychotherapy-somatic-path-treat-trauma
Somatic Experiencing:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-intelligent-divorce/201503/somatic-experiencing
EMDR
EMDR is a unique, nontraditional form of psychotherapy designed to diminish negative feelings associated with memories of traumatic events. Unlike most forms of talk therapy, EMDR focuses less on the traumatic event itself and more on the disturbing emotions and symptoms that result from the event. Treatment includes a hand motion technique used by the therapist to guide the client’s eye movements from side to side, similar to watching a pendulum swing.
Further Reading:
Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness, David A. Treleaven
The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk
Waking the Tiger, Peter Levine
Your assignment for this week is not to read too much about trauma. Just stick your toe in, and then balance it out with glitter and marshmallows and time outside with someone cute.