When we have experienced a trauma there might be an impulse to push people away, to feel shame around the trauma. To feel as though “I should be stronger than this”, or “why is this still affecting me? What is …
When To Get Help For Trauma
For some people the normal symptoms of trauma will start to fade after about 4 weeks. For others they will continue and even get worse. It is really useful to have a list of things to look out for regarding …
Physical & Emotional Symptoms of Trauma
There are so many responses to trauma, remember YOUR response is NORMAL for YOU. You may experience any combination of these symptoms in response to any trauma, large or small. The symptoms will usually subside within a few weeks or …
Causes of Psychological Trauma
You might be surprised to know there are different kinds of trauma. Our ability to recover from a trauma depends partly on the KIND of trauma we have experienced. When we have experienced a shock trauma psychological distress in the …
Dissociation and Trauma
“Dissociation is the essence of trauma. The overwhelming experience is split off and fragmented, so that the emotions, sounds, images, thoughts, and physical sensations related to the trauma take on a life of their own.” (Van der Kolk, 2014, p66). …
How Trauma Affects the Brain
Trauma affects the brain, especially the prefrontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus. Ongoing trauma is associated with “lasting change in these brain areas” (Bremmer, 2006). When there is a potential threat the amygdala sends an instant message to the hippocampus, activating …
Re-Traumatisation
This event is retraumatising on several counts. Firstly, she experiences the same trauma her mother experienced, having her child stolen. Secondly, she re-lives her own trauma of being stolen as a child. She may then slip into further depression and …
Have you ever wondered if you would have marched with Martin Luther King?
Have you ever wondered if you would have marched with Martin Luther King in the American Civil Right Movement? I would like to think I would have marched. Now is the time to march. HOW you march it is up …
Intergenerational Trauma
Intergenerational trauma is real. Trauma is passed down through family lines. When a member of a family experiences a trauma, such as being raised by an alcoholic, experiencing slavery or the Holocaust, these traumas have biological and behavioural impacts on …
The Johari Window
Do the work – What is the work around race for me as a white person? For me it is the same as all of the therapeutic work. It is being brave enough to look within, to search myself FIRST. …