Trauma

Trauma can leave a person feeling scared, broken and forever altered. A traumatic event is commonly defined as an exposure to death, injury or sexual violence, but trauma is much broader. Any experience that threatens our sense of safety, physically or emotionally, is traumatic and can impact our lives profoundly. The experience may have occurred recently or in the past, once or repeatedly, but its aftermath usually causes unwanted thoughts, feelings and reactions. Additionally, the world may seem unpredictable, unsafe and bad resulting in anxiety, distrust, sadness and feelings of powerlessness. Although there is a strong pull to avoid the pain, healing occurs by receiving support, processing our experience and connecting with our resilience.