What is 'Trauma Processing'?

To answer this question, we must first ask 'what is trauma?'.

I'll start by saying this: trauma is not something that happens to us. Rather, trauma is the imprint that an experience can leave on a person. In other words, an event is never objectively traumatic. It's the way in which a specific event (or series of events) impacts the unique individual, either resulting in trauma or not.

Some individuals will be more susceptible to specific traumas. Some factors that make one more vulnerable to trauma include intergenerational trauma, cultural oppression, attachment issues developed from an abusive childhood, and lack of social support, amongst many other risk factors. Other times, acute and devastating events can happen, resulting in trauma for someone who has virtually none of these risk factors (e.g. being mugged, sudden loss of a loved one, surviving a terrorist attack, losing your home to a natural disaster, etc.). Not to mention, the lesser-addressed causes of trauma that are extremely common, such as being bullied in grade school, being picked on by a teacher, or always feeling like the odd one out at family gatherings. The point is, although the severity differs greatly between people and circumstances, trauma can leave its mark on anyone and everyone, and it often does.

So what is this 'imprint' that results in trauma, and in severe cases, PTSD?

This imprint refers to the ways in which trauma alters our autonomic nervous system (ANS) as a result of the event. Our ANS is constantly judging and evaluating whether something is safe or a threat to us, so that we can either prepare for fight/flight or remain feeling safe/connected. Trauma will mess with our ability to judge what is safe or not, causing more dysregulation and less capacity to self-regulate. To give a few examples, if you were yelled at a lot as a kid, the imprint this leaves on your ANS will often involve an oversensitivity to interpreting people's facial reactions as threatening. Or, if you were a soldier in combat, your ANS is programmed to interpret loud noises as a life-threatening event. Or, if your parents had a volatile relationship, your ANS will often interpret your current partner's innocent actions as them threatening to leave you.

In other words, trauma is quite literally stored in the body, often out of view from our conscious awareness. Bessel Van Der Kolk gives a comprehensive and thorough explanation of this in his book The Body Keeps the Score, alongside countless research papers and collaborations on the topic.

With the right care and attention, we can heal our trauma. This is where trauma processing comes in.

So then, what is trauma processing?

Trauma processing involves healing the nervous system so that what is happening internally when the traumatic memory is recounted better matches what is actually occurring in the present moment. When we have successfully processed a traumatic memory, our bodies and minds regain the ability to remain in the present moment when we are exposed to what used to be our triggers, instead of being shot back in time as if the traumatic event is happening as we speak. Further, we can remain relatively untriggered when recounting a traumatic story that used to cause intense, visceral reactions.

The methods by which a therapist and client can do this are vast in number. Choosing which approach to take will depend largely on what is the best fit for the client and the theoretical orientation of the therapist. The quote, "concepts are few, methods are many" greatly applies here. Some examples of trauma processing techniques include somatic experiencing (paying attention almost exclusively to the bodily sensations that are occurring when triggered), EMDR (using bilateral stimulation to process traumatic memories), narrative therapy, and talk therapies (recounting the traumatic memory again and again at an appropriate pace until it becomes a coherent narrative), amongst many other techniques out there!

If you believe you are dealing with trauma that is impacting your quality of life, just know that it can be healed. Reach out for support, because you are not alone. I am happy to chat with you more about this topic if it directly applies to you, or if you want to learn more.