Trauma & Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Some injuries leave visible scars, but many traumas have damaging effects that aren’t easily seen or named.

Trauma by definition overwhelms our capacity to cope. If you have experienced trauma or have received a diagnosis of Traumatic Stress Disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), working with a psychotherapist can help.

Therapy can support your effort to deal with the effects of trauma, no matter what kind of trauma you experienced—whether your trauma was caused by a single event such as an accident or a violent incident, or was a form of neglect or abuse over a long period of time. Therapy can also help if the trauma is part of your social context, such as ongoing stress caused by racism, homophobia or transphobia, or other forms of violence and oppression. By working with a therapist, you can learn how to cope with trauma and better resource yourself.

How Does Trauma Affect the Mind and Body?

When we experience something traumatic, it can affect our thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and even our sense of our own bodies. It can cause high stress and make us feel like our emotions are too strong. We might also feel tense, anxious, or constantly on guard. Sometimes, we might feel like we’re not really there, like we’re “checking out” from reality—this is called dissociation.

Trauma can also cause physical symptoms such as a racing heart or feeling numb; it might also link with symptoms that lack an identifiable medical cause. It can also disrupt our relationships with others and make us feel like we can’t trust anyone. Trauma can block access to our strengths and resources, heightening our sense of vulnerability.

What Is Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD)?

There is increasing awareness of a variant of trauma called Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or C-PTSD. While the term does not appear in the so-called “Bible” of mental health known as The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the term has emerged to distinguish event-based PTSD, suffered by war veterans and victims of accidents, and other adverse events of shorter or time-limited duration, from the aftereffects of repetitive interpersonal violence.

Complex PTSD refers to experiences of neglect or abuse that are chronic or prolonged. This is the kind of trauma associated with child abuse, intimate partner violence, destructive psychological dynamics in a household (e.g., addiction; enmeshment or parentification, which means that the child is having to function as the adult/parent) living in a war zone, and other violent circumstances. Emotional and psychological outcomes of C-PTSD can include pervasive emotional dysregulation; negative or fearful bias one’s general outlook or sense of self; and narrowed capacity for closeness and relating.

Therapists are sensitive to the difference between these forms of trauma and can work to address the effects of both types.

How Does a Therapist Work with Trauma?

Seeing a therapist to address the effects of trauma in your life may involve the following:

• Coming to a safe and confidential space to discuss what is happening
• Identifying your symptoms and how they show up in your thoughts, emotions, and body
• Gradually exploring your history to bring order and expand understanding
• Containing self-destructive behaviour, such as self-harm or addiction [/link: internal Issues page: Addiction]
• Helping you to process and work with difficult emotions
• Investigating other possible resources to help in your daily life

Resources for Individuals Who Have Experienced Trauma

There are many excellent books available that can deepen your understanding of the effects of trauma. Dr. Peter A. Levine and Bessel van der Kolk are world-renowned for their research and writing in this area.

Books:

Stephanie Foo. What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma. Ballantine, 2023.

Nadine Burke Harris. The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018.

Peter A. Levine, Ph.D. Waking the Tiger: The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences. North Atlantic Books, 1997.

Bessel van der Kolk. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking, 2014.

Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté. The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, & Healing in a Toxic Culture. Avery, 2022.

Online resources:

Information and resources from the Centre for Addiction and Mental health.

An overview of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

A scientist’s contemplative essay on lessons from the natural world relevant to healing trauma.