Trauma
"We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present. Trauma results in a fundamental reorganisation of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think."
― Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
What is Trauma?
Trauma isn’t limited to violence in a far away war or in an international conflict. Traumatic events happen all around us. It can happen to us, our friends or family. As Kolk*argues, It leaves a shadow over our minds & bodies. So, what is Trauma? You might like to think of it as a kind of emotional or psychological wound.
However, in contemporary psychoanalytic psychotherapy we can think about how the mind, as well as the body, can be pierced and wounded by shocking and disturbing events.
Trauma, is an event, or series of events, where extreme stress overwhelms our ability to cope. These experiences can sometimes exceed our ability to manage, cope or integrate our emotions and feelings associated with the event. As the brain and mind attempts to re-channel the excess stress you may also feel in physical pain as well but unsure of its origins.
Because of the painful and difficult nature of traumatic memories, they are often hidden deep and sealed off within our unconscious mind as we form an entrenched psychological shield around them, finding methods of coping until a trigger or event reminds us of our experience and we are re-traumatised and overwhelmed.
What are the symptoms of trauma?
You may feel:
• Shock, denial, or disbelief
• Anger, irritability, mood swings
• Guilt, shame, self-blame
• Feeling sad or hopeless
• Confusion, difficulty concentrating
• Anxiety and fear
• Withdrawing from others
• Feeling disconnected or numb
• Insomnia or nightmares
• Being startled easily
• Racing heartbeat
• Aches and pain
• Fatigue
• Difficulty concentrating
• Edginess and agitation
• Muscle tension
If you are suffering from some of the above symptoms, the traumatic experience has no doubt left an indelible imprint on your mind, body & soul. So much of your traumatic history is stored in your body, so you may feel, at times, your heart racing, a nauseous anxiety, a loss of control.
Trauma robs you of the feeling that you are in charge of yourself…The challenge of recovery is to reestablish ownership of your body & your mind-of your self
(Kolk, p 203)
How can trauma be treated?
I believe, that almost all psychological suffering entails a difficulty in creating and maintaining close relationships and/or a struggle in how we respond to situations and those around us. Feeling safe with your therapist is the first step in healing from trauma.
Feeling compassion for yourself is another path which together, we will explore. In order to gain control over your self you will need to revisit your traumatic experience(s). Sooner or later you will need to confront what has happened to you but only after you feel safe. My approach is a collaborative process but also a holistic one. As I believe, trauma can be stored in the body, it makes sense that a body therapy, such as Yoga, or a body therapy which you find beneficial, is encouraged by me to run along our psychotherapy sessions.
Along side my private practice, I have a specialist clinical interest in the psychological impact of trauma, identity and forced migration. I previously worked for part of the week as a psychotherapist delivering psychotherapeutic trauma support to men & women within an award winning service and joint venture between Tavistock & Portman Foundation NHS Trust & the British Red Cross. As part of a small team, I played an integral role in setting up and developing the service which supports refugees, some of whom are facing significant practical & immeasurable psychological pain & challenges in accessing primary & secondary mental health services across London.
I currently work, along side my private practice, for the Refugee Council's Therapeutic Services, as a psychotherapist delivering psycho-social therapeutic support within a specialist service.
* Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (Penguin Books, 2014)
