Trauma Therapy

Do I have trauma?

If you have experienced Big “T” trauma, you might already know the answer to this question. These are events where there were strong threats to survival, like (but not limited to) serious accidents, physical abuse, extreme emotional or verbal abuse.

However, Big “T” trauma is only one kind of trauma. We can also experience little “t” trauma. These are events that are not generally thought of as life-threatening, but when we experience them in that moment, it feels like we are under attack. This can be any kind of rejection where we feel inferior, or it leaves us feeling powerless and not in control. Logically, we know that is not a life-threatening situation, but feeling inferior or powerless is perceived as a threat to our survival in the moment.

Big “T” vs. Little “t” Trauma…does it matter?

Yes and no. There are important differences between Big “T” and little “t” trauma, like a singular Big “T” event will trigger the trauma response in all people, where little “t” trauma is often a result of chronic trauma that is more subtle and does not trigger the trauma response in everyone.

That being said, the key is whether the trauma response is triggered, and it can be triggered by both Big “T” trauma AND little “t” trauma. Once that trigger happens, it does not matter if it was Big or little.

What is the trauma response?

The trauma response is autonomous (meaning it happens whether we want it to or not) and is designed to keep you safe from real, physical threats to your survival.

However, that does not mean it only goes off with real threats to our survival. The trauma response reacts to the feeling in the body, not the external threat. This means that if we perceive a threat (real or imagined, life-threatening or not) and it causes the feeling of a threat like fear, anxiety, or any other emotion in the body our nervous system is going to send a signal up the spine into the amygdala and the amygdala is going to start the trauma response to keep us safe. To learn more about the trauma response and what happens (and why top-down therapies will not work long-term), click “learn more” below.

How do you stop the trauma response?

Once the trauma response starts, you cannot stop it because it is autonomous. The key is to stop it before it starts, and if the body is what is triggering the trauma response, then the only way is to resolve the trauma at the root…through the body.

This is why bottom-up therapies like EMDR and KAP services are so critical. If you are ready to get to the root cause of your trauma to stop the trauma response from starting, book a free 15-minute phone consultation below.