Trauma

“Come on, it cannot have been so bad…”

Nobody but us has the ability to decide about the level of severity of events that have a negative impact on our emotional health.

From Psychology Today:

The word ‘trauma’ literally means wound, shock, or injury. Psychological trauma is a person’s experience of emotional distress resulting from an event that overwhelms the capacity to emotionally digest it. The precipitating event may be a one-time occurrence, or a series of occurrences perceived as seriously harmful or life-threatening to oneself or loved ones. People process experiences differently, and not everyone has the same reaction to any event; what one person experiences as trauma may not cause distress for another.”

source:  www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/trauma

As individuals, we perceive situations differently based on our history, and our personality. What is commonly referred to as Big T trauma – events including physical violence, natural disasters, death or the threat thereof – can be clearly identified. The effect of of a traumatic event often leaves the survivor with a general sense of being unsafe, in a state of hypervigilance, and with sleep difficulties, somatic pain and tension, among other symptoms.

The first step in the process of healing is to acknowledge the difficulty and to confront it.

My equine partners and I are here to be completely present with you, in a safe space, for the process of freeing your mind, soul and body of the debilitating effects caused by any and all forms of trauma.

As trauma-informed coach, I focus on creating an environment for my clients that emphasizes an atmosphere of safety and peace, and that focuses on the question ‘What happened to you?’ rather than ‘What’s wrong with you?’.

The experiences I create for my clients negate any danger of retraumatisation. I meet the client where they currently are, and carefully explore how close I want to bring them to the event(s) they experienced as trauma.

Little t trauma is more difficult to identify, since it is often dismissed – by the person experiencing it, as well as their environment – as not severe enough to fall into the trauma category. Examples for Little t trauma include divorces/breakups, financial difficulties and bullying.

Depending on the person’s predisposition, Little t trauma can be close to as debilitating as Big T trauma, especially if experienced in a cumulative manner. The negative effects can include a sense of persistent threat and distrust of people in their vicinity. The effects presenting themselves as emotional dysfunction and, in some cases, physical symptoms, can be quite similar to those resulting from Big T trauma.

In both cases, with the clearly defined Big T trauma, as well as the under the radar Little t trauma, it can be detrimental to our emotional (and physical) health to take the heroic stance of not needing any outside help.