Trauma
Adult survivors of childhood trauma and impactful childhood environments
What to remember when waking
To become human
is to become visible
while carrying
what is hidden
as a gift to others.
You are not
a troubled guest
on this earth,
you are not
an accident
amidst other accidents,
you were invited
from another and greater
night then the one
from which
you have just emerged
-David Whyte
Trauma
is a broad term defined herein as an event(s) that has defied the young child’s or adolescent’s capacity to appropriately cope and process. Trauma can constitute a single event or a few such distinct events (shock trauma) or of an ongoing traumatic experience ranging from unintentional misattunement, unintentional neglect due to sickness of a caregiver, and neglect and abuse by primary caregivers (attachment trauma).
Although many individuals think of trauma as big dramatic events, the reality is that young children can be impacted by any number of ongoing stress within the family and school environment, and our definition of trauma relates more to the impact it has had on any individual rather than the “objective” magnitude of their traumatic experience. Trauma impact can manifest in a myriad of symptoms and varies from one individual to another.
Early trauma can shape core beliefs about the self and the world, one’s safety in the world, and one’s ability to trust others and oneself. Long term misattunement, and chronic neglect and abuse, can shape individuals’ core belief about themselves to be distorted, stuck in a sense of worthlessness, shame about one’s self, hopelessness and inability to thrive and like one’s self. Chronic trauma is also likely to impact relationships as one’s faith in other people’s abilities to meet their needs is lacking and therefore the natural flow of needing and receiving that is central to human relationships is often strained.
In healing trauma we draw on the innate capacity for wellness and wholeness, by courageously revisiting, those painful early experiences, while providing individuals with new ways to meet old unmet needs. We often strive to reshape individuals' ability to feel and express their authentic feelings, as well as reshape some of the beliefs that have emerged from the trauma situation and which are no longer applicable yet ”feel true.” We seek to repair the sense of powerlessness and shame about being powerless by inviting current resources and empowering self or other protection, healthy boundaries and efficacy in the internal and external world.