What Is Trauma?

You may have had a near accident while driving. You are then shaking, your heart is racing, and you feel a rush of adrenaline. This is trauma. Your body is likely to work through this type of trauma easily and quickly allowing you to feel better very soon. Trauma does not have to be a big event. Trauma is anything that makes us feel unsafe emotionally or physically that has lasting effects.

So what is causing us to feel all those things after a near accident? Our nervous system is working with our body and our brain to process what happened. All of the symptoms that you feel after a traumatic event are completely normal. In fact, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) cannot be diagnosed until at least 30 days after a traumatic event because the symptoms are 100% normal responses to trauma.

When our nervous system is overwhelmed, the part of our brain that puts memories into the past so that they do not overwhelm us is not fully functioning. This means that instead of our body/brain processing what happened and putting it in the past you are just experiencing trauma symptoms over and over. You are not broken! It is a normal function that has simply gotten stuck in overdrive. This is where I can help! I can help you process the trauma in ways that do not overwhelm your body.