Could trauma be impacting your health?

Trauma is any situation that overwhelms us - our nervous system and capacity to cope. It is how we experience something, not just the event itself.

Trauma changes how we see ourselves, others and the world. It encompasses more than catastrophic events, it includes insecure attachment, generational trauma and both Little T traumas and Big T traumas.

• Little T traumas - situations that cause distress, disrupt emotional functioning & and impact our quality of life. Particularly accumulated effects of these, compounds their impact.

  e.g. neglect, family drama, interpersonal conflict, bullying, failures, shame, rejection, betrayal, chronic illness, financial or legal problems, abrupt or extended relocation.

• Big T traumas - situations where a person’s life or bodily integrity is threatened.

  e.g. sudden loss, natural disasters, major surgeries, life threatening illnesses, abuse, witnessing death, accidents, wars and violence.

  Psychology Today

Trauma results in stored survival stress and dysregulation of our 3 nervous system states: parasympathetic, sympathetic & dorsal vagal freeze. Since the nervous system drives all of our biology, physical diseases become a downstream effect of stored trauma (Dr Aimie).

Trauma is often a root cause of many chronic health issues and there is a growing body of research to support this, starting with The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study.

• “The ACE Study reveals a powerful relation between our emotional experiences as children and our adult emotional health, physical health, and major causes of mortality in the United States” (Felitti, 2002).

• “As the ACE study has shown, child abuse and neglect is the single most preventable cause of mental illness, the single most common cause of drug and alcohol abuse, and a significant contributor to leading causes of death such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke, and suicide.” (Bessel Van Der Kolk, 2015).

Healing trauma requires creating safety & support to regulate the nervous system through somatic experiencing, parts work (IFS) and addressing biological imbalances.

Experts on this are Dr Aimie Apigian, Dr Gabor Mate, Dr Peter Levine, Dr Richard Schwartz and Dr Anita Phillips.

Speak to us today about how to get started on your healing journey.

Sources for more information:

Trauma Healing Accelerated - Dr Aimie Apigian

The Myth of Normal - Dr Gabor Mate

Somatic Experiencing - Dr Peter Levine

Parts Work/Internal Family Systems - Dr Richard Schwartz

The Garden Within - Dr Anita Phillips

Older People and Trauma