The problem is everyone thinks they know what trauma is, when they're really just able to rattle off examples of triggers...
Trauma is much more than triggers AND often not even requiring a notable traumatic event.
It can be sincerely hard to identify trauma though if your looking for either the wrong things, or limited things that the internet spews out.
Let's look at Google and Social Media's influence on what we think trauma is...
Search Engine's Trauma Definition (Spark Notes Ed.): “ potentially long-lasting emotional responses + protection-focused patterns, after resulting from experiencing something(s) very distressing that is not typical for the average person" +/- all the typical symptoms.
Overview of Search Engines' dissemination of Trauma Info:
Too focused on onset of traumatic signs and symptoms
Limiting to specific experiences deemed "traumatic"
Too focused on identifiable events/ experiences
Only includes severely distressing causes and effects
Effects of trauma in terms of other symptoms, w/o examples of life challenges that could arise
So, then I took my search to Instagram. Maybe there would be a more user-friendly definition of trauma on a platform of mental health professionals that post more user-friendly content? Here's what I found:
Oddly enough, I found that social content creations, like those pictured above, explain things that have to do with trauma much more applicably to the average person's experience than the stuff I found in search engine results!
Social Media's Trauma Definition (Spark Notes Ed.): “the past’s emotional fight-or-flight responses that trickle into the present, as overly sensitive protection mechanisms" +/- typical symptoms and not so typical ones.
Overview of Social's dissemination of Trauma Info:
Great for providing what it might feel like- very validating!
Great for understand that everyone's experience is different (super distressing, vs shameful, irritating, etc...), and not always by the book
Super informative with sharing many underrepresented signs/ symptoms/ patterns/responses of trauma
Appreciate that is explains the intricacies of more niche trauma responses
So so on tips- Good, this is touchy!
Memes & quotes focus on either the normalization of life challenges, reasons healing is worth it, some expert explanations of the why's behind trauma, and personal examples
No specific definitions despite my differing searches
Evidence-based/ professionally recognized?
Let's hone in on the highlighted points above.
The Research can't keep up with us and the Trauma Healing we need
But don't take that as fact, because some of the content on social is NOT necessarily evidence-based, nor dispersed by the most trustworthy professionals/ fully-informed sources. Not a knock against anyone, but the research just isn't out there yet!
This is bound to happen when research just can't keep up with measuring all of the successes, failures, and in-between variables that can affect and be affected by each other, within each of us, with the addition of any one trauma conceptualization or treatment protocol.
The problem is, proving that a potentially, universally experienced phenomenon (aka trauma in general) or healing process for it, takes a LONG time. It's because researchers findings have to be validated (true to other highly respected professionals in the field), reliable (consistently a good explanation or healing protocol for the phenomenon), and generalizable (applicable and accessible to many types of different people).
Ughhhh... am I right?! This literally means that the best treatments for trauma healing, or really any kind of healing for anything, could totally be out there and truly work, without being evidence-based just yet... But, I digress.
Mental Health and Trauma Healing Therapy Memes Break
This is all great and I love it/ that trauma and mental health issues are becoming more normalized and a part of more general conversation, but the original problem remains:
Trauma Definition that encompasses more, for more people...
Trauma: an issue, when...
encountering new life events/ taking in their ongoing sensory details,
thinking about uncomfortable past scenarios/ periods of life,
attempting to cope with habits, feelings, and/or body sensations, related to or informed by past ones,
or even just imagining handling future life circumstances with any of the above, similarly or better than those in the past...
end up triggering an impractical reactivation of memory networks containing similar themes of information - helpful, traumatizing, unsettling, or otherwise- gathered from various past situations we may or may not consciously remember.
What all of that really means about EMDR Trauma Healing with me
A). Trauma is timelessly pervasive. It can be 'triggered' in innumerable ways, when actively focusing on the past, present, or future. It also may or may not be associated with a consciously identifiable event or period in life, making terms like 'acute,' 'chronic,' and 'complex' trauma labels without practical healing/ treatment value.
B). Trauma responses vary immensely. They aren't just in the form of flashbacks, hyper sensitive emotions, or somatic fight-or-flight response. They can also take the form of undesirable patterns of thinking or behaving, specific habits or unhealthy coping mechanisms, relationship styles, and even overall lifestyle preferences and occupational choices.
C). Trauma is held in memory networks, which encompasses a lifetime of mind, body, & soul memory. Not just one or the other, but all.
D). Trauma healing is ongoing because our experiences in life are. Memory Networks are forever shaped by our old and incoming new experiences. Some new ones will strengthen the helpful learning pathways forged by the old, while others might challenge them in new ways.
If we approach (EMDR or not) trauma healing therapy and treatment planning with frameworks that are more inclusive and easily adaptable for any person's situation, finding relief can be a dream that's realistically attainable for anyone and everyone.
My Approach to Trauma Treatment Planning...
Don't label people. Don't label the quality of peoples' experiences. Focus less on trauma severity, complexity, and even duration. Focus on the every-day-life challenges each person is experiencing.
Use those problems to identify other times those problems occurred in life, notice similarities and overarching patterns of experiential details that happen during those problematic times and trace those back to their roots of distress.
Evaluate the quality of the memory networks that connect back then, to now, and future life choices and responses.
Identify and helpfully label the specific memory network 'glitches' that likely occurred when taking in, storing, and consolidating specific memory details into the life lessons we continue live by, but under varying degrees of consciousness.
If you feel like you may have experienced trauma, chances are high that you have (just being realistic).
Why?
Because at it's core, trauma is just misinterpreted, misappropriated, mis-emphasized, and/or simply mis-sorted learning details, that got confused for the future experience improvement kind, that we want impacting all of our reactions and responses today.
Interested in working together? Reach out :)
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