What is Trauma?

Trauma results from an event, a series of events, or a set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as either physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening, and that has prolonged adverse effects on the individual’s mental, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual wellbeing.

Everyone experiences events differently

What is traumatizing for one person may not be traumatizing to another. 

Traumatic Experiences may include:

Experiences may be a single incident, while other experiences may be chronically stressful.

Those who are affected by a traumatizing experience may suffer greatly.

The Impact of Trauma

The impact of trauma on the brain can make it hard for children to be at their best.

Children who have been traumatized may begin to behave in ways that are problematic, since trauma creates changes in the brain, such as an overdeveloped fear response and increased stress hormones in the body.

Reactions may include:

• Aggression, Agitation, or Acting Out

• Motor Hyperactivity and Fine Motor Control

• Anxiety

• Depression

Fight, Flight and Freeze

The concept of FIGHT, FLIGHT, and FREEZE is explained with “Trauma the Tiger.” The brain and body instinctually default to one of these three states when an event is experienced as traumatic. 

“Trauma the Tiger” can be triggered into a state of “trying to protect you” (terror) even when there is no apparent threat.

Freeze (Hypo-aroused):

• Withdrawn

• Shut down

• Memory Loss

• Disconnected

• Flat emotion

Trauma versus Behaviour Disorders, and Why we need to Know the Difference.

More research is connecting behaviour disorders (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], oppositional defiant disorder [ODD], and conduct disorder [CD]) with trauma since they have many similar features.

Traumatized children may be misunderstood, and as a result may be misdiagnosed and labeled with a range of behaviour disorders (Cole, O’Brien, Gadd, Ristuccia, Wallace, & Gregory, 2009, p. 21; Cicchetti, et al., 2009). These diagnosis are given in an attempt to understand the problematic behaviours and learning challenges that the child is displaying and to provide appropriate intervention. However, without the proper diagnosis of trauma, children may receive ineffective intervention.

What we see (the behaviours) is just the tip of the iceberg. What we don’t see (the trauma) is the chunk of ice submerged under water. We need to go beyond the surface to understand children, so that we can provide appropriate and effective intervention that addresses not only the behaviour(s), but also the trauma.

The Body Remembers

Implicit Memory

Professionals are more readily supporting the concept that the “body remembers” and that trauma is experienced at a sensory level and stored as implicit memory (sensations of trauma), where there is no language and the senses hold the memory: such as what we see, hear, smell, touch and taste (Malchiodi, 2008; Rothschild, 2000; Steele, 2009a; Steele, 2009b).