Understanding Trauma

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What is trauma?

The word trauma is used a lot these days—and sometimes so loosely that it can lose its meaning. Not everything difficult or painful is trauma. Still, the concept matters, especially when we understand it more precisely and with less judgment.Trauma is not simply what happened to you, or what you didn’t receive what you needed while your nervous system was being shaped. Trauma is the greek word for wound, the wound that formed as a result of what was done to you, or what you had to do to get what you needed in order to survive.This wound can happen by one significant event, or many repeated smaller events over a longer period of time.Humans are deeply wired for connection and safety within their “herd,” and the nervous system will always choose survival over comfort, authenticity, or long-term wellbeing.The responses that formed back then were intelligent, adaptive, and often lifesaving. When something in the present resembles an old situation or pattern, the body or mind may “remember” and react automatically—through what we often call triggers. In those moments, the system falls back into familiar survival strategies. What once protected you can now feel like autopilot: painful, confusing or suffocating and sometimes followed by dread, shame, or embarrassment.This repeating pattern is often less about what you think and more about a nervous system that has become stuck or inflexible—constantly leaning toward threat, vigilance, or shutdown. Over time, this can look like chronic stress, tension, anxiety, or exhaustion.

Dealing with trauma

The hopeful part is that change is possible. Healing does not always require digging deeply into old memories or reliving the past. Often, it starts by working with the body and the nervous system—helping it “unstick,” regain flexibility, and relearn what safety and relaxation feel like.Mindfulness can be a powerful tool, but so can body-based approaches, breathwork, somatic practices, and methods such as EFT or EMDR.Not every approach works for everyone—but something will. With the right support, the nervous system can learn new patterns, and what once ran automatically can slowly become a choice again.

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