Trauma Informed Care: What Difference Does it Make?

You might be surprised by the statistics on trauma because they are staggeringly high. For example, 25% of women have been sexually abused, 20% of people (men and women) have been sexually molested, about 30% of couples will experience some act of physical violence, and 25% of children are beaten to the point of some physical sign on their body.

While these numbers tell us a lot, they don’t tell us about the people in the stories. The people experience these realities for days, months, and years. Prolonged painful experiences like this result in tremendous suffering and pain, creating serious and lasting consequences.

In light of this, how do we face the pain, knowing that all around us, people are experiencing trauma? How can we trust in God surrounded by such trauma?

Questions like these often feel overwhelming and usually go unanswered. Today, we are going to try and shed some light on how suffering and counseling, more specifically Christian counseling, interact.

Our brains are malleable, making them capable of “rewiring” for better or for worse. The brain is a powerful force and can either be our greatest advocate or greatest deceiver. It is the tool which helps us to survive unbearable situations, or from now on what we will call trauma

The human brain is connected via a network of cells communicating through synapses. Every time we do anything repeatedly over time, a pattern forms because of the synaptic response system, creating a synaptic link.

As the link is used more often, it becomes easier for your brain to follow the same pattern. It’s like how rainwater can cut through stone over time, creating a smooth groove. The more rain, the larger and smoother the groove becomes, making it easier for more and more water to flow through.

Synaptic links can consist of thoughts, actions, and sensations. For example, if you see a piece of candy, your first instinct might be to grab it and eat it. This is because your brain is wired to think candy is good, so when you see it, you grab for it. If you want to lose weight, you may need to rewire that link, but that will take effort. Your brain already knows candy as good, so you will need to retrain it to result in a different response than eating it.

Consequences of Trauma

Trauma can do the same thing to your brain. Something traumatic doesn’t even need to be a pattern for it to train your brain due to its traumatic nature. One traumatic experience can result in serious and lasting negative consequences.

Bodily Responses to Trauma

When someone experiences trauma, the brain often responds in relatively predictable ways. Below, we examine several ways trauma typically affects the brain. If at any point, you begin to resonate, please continue reading to the treatment section of the article because it may be helpful to talk to someone about trauma-based therapy.

Dissociation

It is common for dissociation to occur during traumatic circumstances. If you begin to experience something painful and unbearable, your mind will remove consciousness from what is taking place, thus disassociating from the experience. This protects you from what is taking place at the moment. The memory is then repressed, often making it very difficult to fully remember.

Dissociation can be a protective, and even beautiful way of coping with a difficult experience. What is problematic is when the experience is over, but your mind continues to disassociate from what is going on around you.

Sometimes this looks like “zoning out” or being unable to remember memories from your recent or long-term experience. It isn’t uncommon for you to realize this years after the experienced trauma. It also is common for it to come up when you enter a new relationship requiring a great level of intimacy that you aren’t used to or encounter something or someone that triggers a trauma response based on your experience.

You may even notice the symptoms of the disassociation before you are able to remember the traumatic circumstances. If you find yourself unable to live life in a normal way, it can be frightening, but it is also a normal response to trauma. So remember, there is hope.

Hypervigilance

The next common symptom in response to trauma is hypervigilance. Let’s consider an example. Imagine a child living in a home where physical violence is normal. A child in this environment is going to experience elevated levels of cortisol (stress hormone). Even outside the home, the kid will continue to feel more stress than normal.

One common response to a circumstance like this is hypervigilance. It can manifest in different ways. For example, when a child hears a door slammed in class, they might jump out of their and cower because in their mind they know what a slamming door means. A normal child might be startled by the noise, but won’t immediately respond in fear. But, a child with elevated stress levels is always on edge.

If the circumstances are extreme and prolonged, then hypervigilance can begin to interfere with daily life. Hypervigilance can make things like walking to your car at night or being in a crowded room difficult. Living constantly on edge is difficult and exhausting. A lack of trust in other people can also affect people relationally and socially.

Hypervigilance often can be noticed when someone seems overwhelmed by a supposedly simple task or daily interactions. When someone has to live in hypervigilance to protect themselves from traumatic situations, this bleeds over into other parts of their lives. While it can be a helpful form of protection, it carries lasting consequences. But remember there is hope for working through these responses.

Somatic Response

Well-being consists of our whole self: mind, body, and spirit. Trauma affects every dimension of our person, even our bodies. Somatic symptoms of trauma often appear as unexplained physical pains. It could be a stomachache, a headache, or trouble sleeping. While these can be normal life experiences, if they are unexplained and persistent, then they might be a symptom of trauma, especially when tied to specific locations, times, and circumstances.

Not every physical ailment is related to trauma, but some might be. It is something you need to keep in mind, especially when dealing with children who may not be capable of expressing their pain and processing their trauma. In order to deal with the physical symptoms, you will need to find the root of the issue.

Intrusive Thoughts

Sometimes our thoughts feel uncontrollable. This isn’t uncommon, but when certain thoughts are persistent and overwhelming, it might be something more serious. A very common reaction to trauma is having “flashbacks.” These are when thoughts about your traumatic experiences interrupt your daily life.

Flashbacks will vary from person to person and can occur randomly or linked to specific triggers. For example, a smell, sound, or place, could take you right back to the place you were when the trauma occurred and your brain might start to replay the memory, incapable of stopping it.

For trauma survivors, this can create awkward or embarrassing moments when a flashback takes over and your brain begins to replay the trauma. But remember there is hope to break the cycle.

Common Responses to Trauma

There are many different types of trauma responses, and they will vary from person to person. For the sake of time, here are some more common responses.

Those experiencing symptoms from unresolved trauma often experience explosive behavior, debilitating fear, difficulty making decisions, depression, anxiety, substance use, risky behavior, as well as guilt and shame for the consequences of these responses. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it’s a good overall sketch of what it can be like to experience the symptoms of unresolved traumatic experiences.

Responding to these symptoms is difficult, especially if you don’t know where they are coming from. The good news is there are several different methods of treatment for unresolved traumatic experiences with very successful outcomes.

Treatment Options for Trauma Recovery

Before outlining treatment options, it is important to note that not everyone who experiences trauma will necessarily develop negative and prolonged responses. It is possible for people to recover on their own through personal growth and a healthy community.

It is also key to acknowledge that needing trauma-related help in the form of a support group or counseling is not a sign of weakness. We were not created for pain and suffering and trauma-related suffering is common. If after traumatic circumstances you begin to experience any of the above symptoms, I encourage you to seek help and healing.

Trauma Based Therapy: Treatment Options

Healing the wounds of trauma will be different for everyone, and is not limited to the list below, but it’s a good start.

Self-Care

One of the first steps of recovery is to be kind to yourself and understand these reactions to trauma are normal. If you start to notice new and negative patterns in your brain that weren’t there before the trauma, remember they are normal and can be rewired.

Psychodynamic Therapy

This is a fancy term for talk-based therapy. It means sitting down with a trained professional who overtime you can share and process the traumatic experience with.

Depending on your experience and your therapist, you will have several different therapeutic options which have proven effective. Trauma-Focused CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) is one that is particularly effective, especially for my clients. Another approach is through Narrative Therapy, which is sometimes used as well.

Before progressing with talk therapy, it is very important to find a therapist who you can connect with before getting further into trauma-focused talk therapy. It is very important to find a therapist who is familiar with trauma-related concerns and experience, so they can help you develop and work through an effective treatment plan.

Somatic Therapy

The term somatic therapy here is being used to loosely refer to any therapy focusing on the body’s physical response. It could be anything from yoga and breathing exercises, all the way to massage therapy. Incorporating breathing exercise and bodily awareness to talk therapy is particularly effective when dealing with trauma-related symptoms.

Finally, one of the most important ways to heal the wounds of trauma is faith. How could a good God let something like this happen? To answer that, you should schedule an appointment. Please contact me or another professional in our counselor directory to set up an initial risk-free appointment.