Trauma

A traumatic incident is something that threatens our life or welfare. But it doesn’t have to be just a one-time incident, like a car accident. It can be highly dysfunctional or even abusive patterns we grew up that threatened us as children. Trauma stays in our minds; it imprints us. Doing so, it mobilizes our fight or flight response 24/7. 

When we are traumatized, our phylogenetically primitive part of the brain kicks in with its “fight or flight” reaction. Everything in our body goes on red alert. The fight or flight evolved in innumerable animals, including us, to deal with threats to our very life, like a saber-toothed tiger targeting to kill us in Cro-Magnon days. You can also see it in the predatory wolf chasing down the prey fawn for five miles before the fawn finally gives up in utter exhaustion and terror as the wolf crushes its throat. It is that same fight or flight that gets mobilized by the memory of the trauma. Trauma threatened us—and we reacted to fight back or to run away. The problem was, we couldn’t do either—whether the trauma was a car accident or being at the receiving end of highly dysfunctional parents. So the trauma stayed with us…in memory. As a memory, it just kept the flight of fight going. In doing so, it eventually gave us symptoms, called post-traumatic symptoms, or PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). 

Trauma

A traumatic incident is something that threatens our life or welfare. But it doesn’t have to be just a one-time incident, like a car accident. It can be highly dysfunctional or even abusive patterns we grew up that threatened us as children. Trauma stays in our minds; it imprints us. Doing so, it mobilizes our fight or flight response 24/7. 

When we are traumatized, our phylogenetically primitive part of the brain kicks in with its “fight or flight” reaction. Everything in our body goes on red alert. The fight or flight evolved in innumerable animals, including us, to deal with threats to our very life, like a saber-toothed tiger targeting to kill us in Cro-Magnon days. You can also see it in the predatory wolf chasing down the prey fawn for five miles before the fawn finally gives up in utter exhaustion and terror as the wolf crushes its throat. It is that same fight or flight that gets mobilized by the memory of the trauma. Trauma threatened us—and we reacted to fight back or to run away. The problem was, we couldn’t do either—whether the trauma was a car accident or being at the receiving end of highly dysfunctional parents. So the trauma stayed with us…in memory. As a memory, it just kept the flight of fight going. In doing so, it eventually gave us symptoms, called post-traumatic symptoms, or PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). 
Trauma from domestic violence — Psychological Counseling in Bethlehem, PA
Man sitting on bed with hands on face — Psychological Counseling in Bethlehem, PA
Girl sitting curled up — Psychological Counseling in Bethlehem, PA
The symptoms can include depression and anxiety. We may wake up anxious or depressed but not know why. For many, the trauma had been buried out of conscious awareness. We keep reacting to it however. Just because we’re not paying attention to it consciously doesn’t mean we’re not processing it. Reading this, you may not be consciously paying attention to your heart rate, but another part of your brain certainly is. As a result, we can have difficulty falling asleep because we’re unconsciously on red alert. We can feel anxious throughout the day, even have panic attacks. We can swing from feeling really down to feeling really anxious, or both at the same time. We can feel tired, easily frustrated, and angry—always on edge—seemingly without a reason. We can cry out of the blue. Lose our appetite. Feel lonely and isolated. All these are signals that our fight or flight is being constantly triggered by our underlying trauma. 

If you read the material under the heading Depression and Anxiety, you will note that trauma, depression, and anxiety are all on a dynamic continuum. Threatening incidents, people, or situations can all stir anxiety or depression. If those incidents, people, or situations were life threatening enough, they could have been traumatizing. 
Trauma from domestic violence — Psychological Counseling in Bethlehem, PA
Man sitting on bed with hands on face — Psychological Counseling in Bethlehem, PA
Girl sitting curled up — Psychological Counseling in Bethlehem, PA
The symptoms can include depression and anxiety. We may wake up anxious or depressed but not know why. For many, the trauma had been buried out of conscious awareness. We keep reacting to it however. Just because we’re not paying attention to it consciously doesn’t mean we’re not processing it. Reading this, you may not be consciously paying attention to your heart rate, but another part of your brain certainly is. As a result, we can have difficulty falling asleep because we’re unconsciously on red alert. We can feel anxious throughout the day, even have panic attacks. We can swing from feeling really down to feeling really anxious, or both at the same time. We can feel tired, easily frustrated, and angry—always on edge—seemingly without a reason. We can cry out of the blue. Lose our appetite. Feel lonely and isolated. All these are signals that our fight or flight is being constantly triggered by our underlying trauma. 

If you read the material under the heading Depression and Anxiety, you will note that trauma, depression, and anxiety are all on a dynamic continuum. Threatening incidents, people, or situations can all stir anxiety or depression. If those incidents, people, or situations were life threatening enough, they could have been traumatizing. 
Trauma therapy is focused on healing, not just coping to get by. By relieving the pain and restructuring the traumatic imprint, the trauma can finally be released, allowing the patient to experience freedom and develop the skills to move on.
Associations:
American Psychotherapy Association; Pennsylvania Psychological Association; American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy 

Board Licensed Psychologist; Clinical Fellow with American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (AAMFT) 
Fellow, American Psychotherapy Association
Trauma therapy is focused on healing, not just coping to get by. By relieving the pain and restructuring the traumatic imprint, the trauma can finally be released, allowing the patient to experience freedom and develop the skills to move on.
Associations:
American Psychotherapy Association; Pennsylvania Psychological Association; American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy 

Board Licensed Psychologist; Clinical Fellow with American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (AAMFT) 
Fellow, American Psychotherapy Association
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