What is Trauma?

Trauma is an emotional or psychological injury. It happens when an experience is so overwhelming, frightening or distressing that it leaves a lasting impact even long after the event has ended.

Sometimes trauma comes from a single event, like an accident or assault. Other times, it can come from ongoing harm, such as abuse or living in an unsafe environment. Trauma can also happen when a person’s emotional needs are not met over time, such as feeling ignored, unimportant, or unsafe in important relationships. Even though these experiences may not seem dramatic, they can still affect the brain and body in a similar way to other forms of trauma, leaving lasting emotional and physical effects.

A helpful way to think about trauma is like a wound to the mind or body: even if the event is over, the effects can remain until they are properly healed.

Trauma vs PTSD

It’s common for people to feel confused about trauma and PTSD. Some people believe that if they don’t have all the symptoms of PTSD, they must not have experienced trauma. It’s important to know that you can experience the effects of trauma without having a formal PTSD diagnosis.

Trauma affects everyone differently, and symptoms can be broader and show up in many ways including emotionally, physically, or in your thoughts and behaviours. You might notice difficulties such as anxiety, flashbacks, trouble trusting others, or feeling constantly on edge and expect the worse, even if you don’t meet all the criteria for PTSD.

Not everyone who experiences trauma will develop PTSD. PTSD occurs when the memory of the event remains “stuck” and continues to cause distress, often through flashbacks, nightmares, or ongoing hyper-alertness.

Symptoms of PTSD are generally grouped into four main areas:

1. Re-experiencing or re-living the trauma

  • Flashbacks or feeling like the event or trauma is happening again
  • Nightmares or disturbing memories
  • Intrusive thoughts that appear unexpectedly

2. Avoidance

  • Staying away from people, places or situations that remind you of the trauma
  • Trying not to think or talk about what happened

3. Changes in thoughts and mood

  • Feeling guilty, ashamed or hopeless
  • Trouble remembering parts of the event
  • Feeling disconnected from others or losing interest in things you used to enjoy

4. Being on high alert (hyperarousal)

  • Feeling jumpy or easily startled
  • Difficulty sleeping or concentrating
  • Angry outbursts or irritability

Not everyone experiences all of these symptoms and the intensity can vary.

A helpful way to understand this is to imagine your brain pressing “replay” on the traumatic event. Even though the danger is over, your mind and body respond as if it’s happening right now. Trauma can be thought of like a physical wound: it needs care, attention and time to heal. Without support, the wound can remain sensitive and continue to affect your daily life.

How Trauma affects us

Trauma isn’t just about what happened, it’s about how your brain and body responded and how they continue to hold onto the experience. When the brain is under extreme stress, it struggles to store memories properly. Instead of being filed away neatly, traumatic memories can remain “stuck,” fragmented, or “frozen in time.” That’s why even subtle reminders of the event such as a smell, sound, or image can suddenly trigger strong emotions, physical sensations, or flashbacks.

Trauma can sometimes appear as an emotional reminder or trigger. For example, if someone experienced harsh criticism as a child, similar experiences in adulthood such as being humiliated or criticised by someone else can unconsciously bring up memories or feelings from the past. Even though the current situation is different, it can stir up strong emotions, anxiety, or self-doubt because it taps into earlier traumatic experiences.

Healing and Recovery

Trauma can leave us feeling stuck either shut down or constantly on high alert but recovery is possible. The brain and body have an amazing ability to heal, rebuild and create new pathways. You don’t have to carry trauma forever. With the right support, it is possible to move from simply surviving to truly living again.

Trauma memories can be processed and integrated, which means gently working with the memories, emotions and physical sensations so they no longer feel overwhelming or “stuck” in the body and mind. This can reduce flashbacks, anxiety and hyper-vigilance helping you feel calmer, safer and more present in your daily life.

Therapies such as EMDR (link to EMDR page), Schema Therapy (link to Schema Therapy page) or Parts Work Therapy (link to Parts work page) are among those that can support deep healing. Please check the therapeutic approaches I offer to learn more about these therapies and how they can help.