88 Trauma: Defining and Understanding the Experience

Summary: In this episode, we gain a deeper understanding of the experience of trauma, the impact of trauma. we clarify definitions of different aspects of trauma, various categories of trauma, the immediate and delayed signs and symptoms of trauma, and the effects of trauma.  Then I share an experiential exercise with you to help you discover potential areas that might be fruitful for future exploration of your own internal experience.  Opening Dramatic Short Brief descriptions of the experience of trauma “Outside, the sun shines. Inside, there’s only darkness. The blackness is hard to describe, as it’s more than symptoms. It’s a nothing that becomes everything there is. And what one sees is only a fraction of the trauma inflicted.” ― Justin Ordoñez“My current life, I realized, was constructed around an absence; for all its richness I still felt as if the floors might give way, as if its core were only a covering of leaves, and I would slip through, falling endlessly, never to get my footing.” ― Esi Edugyan, Washington Black“I wish I’d fallen softly. Light and graceful like a feather drifting slowly to the earth on a warm and dreamy summer’s day. I wish that I’d landed softly too. But there is nothing soft or graceful about that devastating moment when the worst has come to pass. The unavoidable truth is that it is hard, cold and brutal. All that you know to be true and good in life shatters in an instant. You feel like a delicate pottery bowl violently tossed from your place of rest, watching yourself crash and scatter across the hostile dark earth. The sound is deafening. Time stops. Inside, the quiet ache of shock and heartbreak slowly makes its grip known. They cut deep, these jagged edges of broken sherds. You gasp for air hungrily, yet somehow forget how to breathe.”― Jodi Sky RogersIntroduction We are born into a not only a fallen world, but a traumatized world We not only share in a fallen human condition, but a traumatized condition.  “No matter what kind of childhood we’ve had, nobody escapes trauma while growing up.”― Kenny WeissThe Fall goes way back, before the world was even created, to the fall of the Lucifer, the light-bearer, the morning star and his angels -- and then the fallenness entered our world through original sin, the sin of Adam and Eve, and these are the original traumas, the fall of the angels and original sin.  You and I are together in the adventure of this podcast, Interior Integration for Catholics, we are journeying together, and I am thankful to be with you. I am Dr. Peter Malinoski, clinical psychologist and passionate Catholic and together, We bring the best of psychology and human formation and harmonize it with the perennial truths of the Catholic Faith. This podcast, Interior Integration for Catholics is part of our broader outreach, Souls and Hearts bringing the best of psychology grounded in a Catholic worldview to you and the rest of the world through our website soulsandhearts.com.  Trauma.  We are just beginning a whole series of episodes on trauma.  You’ve been asking for this -- so many requests for us to address trauma head on.  It's such a tough topic and such an important topic, and we are taking on the tough and important topics that matter to you.Really important to understand the inner experience of trauma -- so you can recognize it in your own life and recognize it an empathetic and attuned way in others' loves.  Part of loving them.  Today, we're going to get an overview of the best of the secular understandings of trauma.  So much has changed since I entered graduate school in 1993 -- back then there was one seminal text on trauma, Judith Herman's Trauma and Recovery.  Now, especially in the last 10-15 years, there has been an upsurge of new, fresh and much better ways of understanding trauma.  Outline Impact of Trauma Definitions of terms Definition of  trauma Definition of Attachment injury Definition of relational hurt Definition of adverse experience. Categories of Trauma Recognizing Trauma from the Reactions, signs and symptoms.  Discuss commonly accepted effects of trauma Go over the traumatic effects of what didn't happen, what was missing Experiential exercise to help you identify areas of your internal experience that are impacted by trauma Impact of Trauma From the North Dakota Department of Human Services Fact Sheet • People who have experienced trauma are:◉ 15 times more likely to attempt suicide◉ 4 times more likely to abuse alcohol◉ 4 times more likely to develop a sexually transmitted disease ◉ 4 times more likely to inject drugs◉ 3 times more likely to use antidepressant medication◉ 3 times more likely to be absent from work◉ 3 times more likely to experience depression◉ 3 times more likely to have serious job problems◉ 2.5 times more likely to smoke◉ 2 times more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)◉ 2 times more likely to have serious financial problems16-minute TED MED talk from How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime | Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris  September 2014Definitions of Trauma Lots of confusion Briere & Scott (2006) Principles of Trauma Therapy: people use the term trauma to refer to  either a traumatic experience or event the resulting injury or stress, or the longer-term impacts and consequences American Psychological Association Website: Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea. Problem in emphasizing the emotional aspects. It's much more than that Misses the overwhelming aspect.  Does get the "response" part right.  Integrated Listening Systems website:  Trauma is the response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, causes feelings of helplessness, diminishes their sense of self and their ability to feel a full range of emotions and experiences. DSM-5  PTSD, Acute Stress Disorder.  Not going to address those here, not worth the time. Highly criticized by many professionals for being very limited and behind the curve, not recognizing the nuances and categories of trauma responses.  Attachment Injury Definition: Dr. Sue John...