Trauma’s Impact on You
Understanding the Trauma Response
When you hear the word trauma, what comes to mind?
Perhaps you picture a soldier returning home from war, haunted by memories too heavy to carry. That image is valid but it’s also incomplete. Because here’s the truth: trauma doesn’t just wear combat boots. Trauma can wear yoga pants. It can sit at a desk job. It can raise children, scroll social media, or smile through the pain at family gatherings.
Maybe you’ve even minimized your own pain because you didn’t have bruises to show for it. Reviewing your own trauma through a lens tailored to what you thought was classified as “actual trauma”, telling yourself “I haven’t been through anything that bad. Other people have had it worse.” But hear me clearly: if something overwhelmed your ability to cope, that was trauma.
So… What Is Trauma, Really?
Trauma isn’t about what happened. It’s about how your nervous system responded to what happened. This means that your brain has taken information about an experience, and hard wired a response when it perceives any other similar events. Trauma is any experience that felt threatening, unsafe, or emotionally overwhelming, especially if it left you feeling powerless, unsupported, or alone. This could be a one-time event (like an accident), or ongoing situations (like emotional neglect, toxic relationships, or growing up in a chaotic home). It doesn’t have to be loud to be a trauma. Sometimes the quietest, most invisible wounds run the deepest.
Common Symptoms of Trauma
There’s the trauma responses you expect, and then the ones that sneak up on you, the kind that make you feel like, “Why am I like this?” Let’s start with the ones that are often linked with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or acute trauma, including:
- Flashbacks – feeling like you’re reliving the trauma, even if it happened years ago.
- Nightmares/Night terrors – sleep disturbances of fear, memory or anguish
- Intrusive thoughts that pop into your mind and won’t go away.
- Hypervigilance – constantly scanning for danger, unable to relax.
- Panic attacks – sudden surge of anxiety causing mental and physical symptoms.
- Dissociation – zoning out or feeling disconnected from your body or surroundings.
These are intense and often misunderstood symptoms.
These symptoms are your brain’s way of trying to protect you from a perceived threat,
even if that threat is no longer real.
Ways Trauma Shows Up That You Might Not Realize
What is interesting about trauma, is that you may have been working on it in therapy without even knowing it. You don’t need flashbacks or nightmares to be considered traumatized. Trauma can show up in more subtle, everyday ways. It might look like constant self-doubt or struggling with feelings of impostor syndrome. Or maybe you are questioning your worth despite evidence to the contrary.
In relationships, you may have difficulty setting boundaries or saying “no.” This then puts others’ needs ahead of your own. When counseling goals have been around feeling like you’re never enough, this could be trauma too. Other aspects of your emotional health that potentially could be trauma related is persistent fears of abandonment or rejection in relationships. Trauma can create a hyper-independent personality, who believes they can’t rely on others – because doing so has only led to disappointment. Others may feel emotionally numb, as if they’re merely observing life rather than fully participating in it. As you can see, trauma can impact you in very subtle ways.
Forms of Trauma
Did you know that trauma comes in many shapes? It’s important to recognize there’s no “trauma Olympics.” No scale of “yours counts, but mine doesn’t.” Trauma can come in many forms—whether it stems from loss, abuse, neglect, betrayal, sudden change, or even experiences that might look “small” from the outside but feel overwhelming on the inside.
- Acute Trauma – One-time events like a car accident, assault, or natural disaster.
- Chronic Trauma – Repeated exposure to distress, like ongoing abuse, neglect, or bullying.
- Complex Trauma – A mix of many traumatic experiences, often starting in childhood, that affect your sense of self and relationships.
- Developmental Trauma – Occurs during early life, when your brain and sense of safety are still forming.
- Secondary or Vicarious Trauma – When you’re deeply affected by witnessing or hearing about someone else’s trauma (common in caregivers, therapists, first responders).
- PTSD and C-PTSD – Diagnosed conditions with specific symptom clusters, including flashbacks, nightmares, and emotional dysregulation.
No trauma is “too small” to matter. Pain isn’t a competition.
Trauma Shapes our Reactions to the Present
Trauma can also impact how we react to some people and situations. Have you ever found yourself shutting down in conversations? Perhaps, you ‘re overreacting to “small” things? That’s not you being “too sensitive” or “crazy.” That’s your nervous system trying to protect you.These responses are not conscious choices but automatic protective mechanisms.
Common trauma responses include:
Fight: Anger, control, confrontation. You might snap quickly or try to stay in charge to avoid feeling vulnerable.
Flight: Perfectionism, overworking, anxiety. You stay “busy” to outrun the discomfort.
Freeze: Numbness, procrastination, zoning out.
Fawn: People-pleasing, codependency, self-abandoning, shape-shifting to be “safe” or loved.
It’s important to remember these responses are adaptive—they once served a protective purpose. It’s just that this reaction is no longer useful. Now that you see these for what they are, you are one more step towards healing.
Trauma Therapy Helps you Move Forward
With therapy and support, individuals can learn to regulate their nervous system, build healthier coping strategies, and experience a greater sense of safety. Healing isn’t about forgetting or pretending it didn’t matter. It’s about making the choice now, to finally give your body and brain the safety they needed back then. Healing from trauma is not linear, it’s a process. The most important thing to remember is.. you are not weak for being affected by what happened to you. You are not dramatic for acknowledging your pain and giving it a name. And above all, you are not alone in how you feel.
Start small. Learn to notice your triggers without judgment. Practice self-compassion, even if it feels foreign. Reach out for support, whether it’s trauma therapy, community, or trauma-informed resources. EMDR therapy, Brainspotting, or TFCBT are just a few options available to you.
And most importantly: stop comparing your pain to someone else’s. Your story matters. The body remembers. Your healing is valid…
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How to Heal from Trauma
How to Heal from Trauma
Events in our lives can be beautiful, but often times there are events that change the course of how we experience ourselves, our relationships, and our own inner potential. There are times in our lives where we will need to focus on healing after a traumatic event. Taking steps to begin the healing is incredibly important.
What is a traumatic event?
Traumatic events are uniquely defined by how an individual experiences an event. If that event creates physical, emotional, spiritual harm, or psychological harm it can qualify as a trauma. Many individuals are able to recover and move forward after those events, but some do need counseling support to address resulting anxious, depressive, or other life complications. Why does trauma impact each individual so uniquely? This is due to the varying life experiences we have all lead. Those who have had previously traumas, existing depressive or anxiety disorders, or those who were brought up in an unhealthy environmetn will be more likely to struggle significantly.
What situations could potentally create longer term traumatic consequences? Some of those include:
- loss of a loved one
- car accidents
- serious illness
- victim or witness to a crime
- natural disasters
The emotional and physical health impacts from trauma vary from person to person. As a result, many people struggle with repeatedly thinking about the incident. In other cases, some may experience anxiety and panic if they have to return to the place of the event. More signficant traumatic reactions such as disassociation can occur if you have experienced multiple traumas in your life, especially if they go untreated. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder often goes untreated because some individuals avoid acknowleding their symptoms. It is important to find a trauma informed therapist to address your emotional health after these events to prevent long term issues from developing.
There are research proven treatment approaches counselors use to treat trauma.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocess (EMDR)
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT)
These approaches are all clinical approaches based in neuroscience to help the body integrate understanding of the event, but more importantly, help to neutralize the negative emotions that persist. Most importantly, these treatments work for children as well! Following a traumatic event, immediate processing is incredibly important and allows quicker closure. For you this is a chance to return to a life focused on the future! Therapists who use any of these techniques will help you to move forward after a trauma occurs in your life. Depending upon your situation, treatment can be brief and focused. If you have complicated and multiple traumatic events then longer time in care may be needed.
Therapy DOES Help
Take the time do heal from trauma. It can improve the direction your life takes and can be a wonderful experience. Choosing a therapist who can provide trauma counseling is easy at Miracles Counseling Centers. Visit our therapist’s page or fill out our new client form and one of our intake coordinators can assist you in finding a match that will best support you. We are here for you in all parts of life, and take pride in helping you move though difficult moments such as these.
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How to manage a setback in healing your trauma
How to manage a setback in healing trauma
Many of our therapists are trauma treatment specialists, and one thing that is often seen are set backs in the healing process. These moments can stem from a recent personal crisis or upheaval of one’s life routine. In short, when this occurs it can feel like your entire world is falling apart again. What is critical is to remember that setbacks are normal and can actually be a part of the healing experience. Give yourself a little grace and continued hopeful effort, you will see yourself finding yourself on the healing journey again. As Brene Brown has stated, allowing ourselves to experience vulnerability is not only brave but also allows space for deeper authenticity with ourselves.
Steps to Start Healing Again
Allow yourself to feel it.
In any setback of life, it is important to feel and acknowledge the emotions that come with it. Thus, disappointment, shame, anger, and confusion are common emotions to have when you find yourself falling backwards from progress. In fact, while some of the emotional experiences you may be having are similar to what you went through in the past, they may provide you with useful information on what areas of yourself may need further attention. Give yourself some grace in having these emotions, and share your observations with your therapist.
Reflect & Begin Again
Spending time reflecting to understanding how the circumstances of this event may help you to recognize patterns or poor boundaries that you may need to examine and reset your life. First, try being curious and open to observing the situation without preexisting assumptions. Second, build new insights with this information. This new level of self awareness can be powerful and jumpstart your again on a healthy, healing path.
Connect with Supports
Healing from a trauma requires support in all forms. Friends, family, or professional counselors give you the opportunity to receive comfort and validation in your healing journey. Sharing your struggles and seeking support is a strength, not a weakness. Ultimately, speaking with these confidants can provide you with new awareness, compassion, and encouragement during a difficult time.
Decide on changes for a better future
In this setback, you may find out learning new coping skills is just what you need to manage similar situations in the future. Perhaps being more consistent in your mindfulness practices is exactly what you need, or letting go of unhealthy, toxic people in your life will give you future safety. This setback can reinvigorate your commitment to your wellness practices, and boundaries in your life!
A time for Self-Compassion & Recognition
In this moment, it is important to practice self compassion and frame your inner voice in a compassionate, encouraging way. It is normal to struggle at times in life and your inner voice should not be shaming or criticizing yourself right now. Recognize the gains you have made in your life up to this point. This will help you to foster a positive growth mindset and continue to acknowledge to yourself that healing is an ongoing process with its own sets of ups and down.
The healing journey can be a winding road of ups and downs. With supportive outlets and commitment to healing you will find your way beyond the past and into your future. Continue the journey with one of our skilled clinicians, you can find a well matching therapist for you by visiting our clinicians page.
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What to know about EMDR Therapy
All you need to know about EMDR therapy
EMDR…Have you heard that acronym yet? Maybe a friend is using it with their therapist. Or maybe you have seen TV show therapists (Grey’s Anatomy or Criminal Minds) talk about its use and perform EMDR. Don’t forget, what you see on TV rarely is done in reality! For counseling professionals, this tool is becoming preferred due to ground breaking research on the intersection of neuroscience and psychology. Have I peaked your curiosity yet? Read on to learn more and see if EMDR could be for you.
Can EMDR help with my symptoms?
Yes! Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapy tool developed in 1987 by Francine Shapiro, PhD. EMDR has quickly become the preferred treatment approach for individuals struggling issues that stem from traumatic life events. Importantly, understand that the term ‘trauma’ can be used, and there is a common misunderstanding that has to mean something exceedingly terrible. We all experience life uniquely. A traumatic impact is to be personally defined by the individual’s experience. What makes EMDR so beneficial is that it focuses on the person’s individual experience. This is important, because this is how the brain assimilated that experience internally. This internalization of the experience is where trauma is formed.
Who is EMDR effective for?
Because of this, EMDR is a exceptional tool for many issues beyond post traumatic symptoms. EMDR is used to support treatment of addictions, depressive disorders, anxiety and panic disorders, phobias, complex grief reactions, individuals with chronic physical health issues, and much more. In fact, EMDR can also be used in treating these same issues in children. All people can experience great gains from working with a therapist who uses EMDR!
Science behind EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an interactive psychotherapy technique. It is a very focused approach for treating trauma and other symptoms. EMDR reconnects the client in a safe and measured way to the images, self-thoughts, emotions, and body sensations associated with the trauma, and allows the natural healing powers of the brain to move toward adaptive resolution. It is based on the idea that traumatic experiences have overwhelmed the brain’s natural coping capacity, and that the healing process can be facilitated through eye movements. These eye movements are called bilateral stimulation. Bilateral stimulation helps the brain to reassimilate an understanding of those past events in the context of the present, safe environment of the therapist’s office. Therefore, simultaneously allowing the strengths the client now possesses to help support the mind’s understanding of the current stance of the self.
EMDR is used in conjunction with typical talk therapy modalities, and so you will still have an opportunity to develop a relationship and explore additional aspects of your life as needed.
How will I benefit from EMDR?
Can this help me? Absolutely! EMDR has been the most studied psychological treatment tool in the last 30 years. Study after study show the majority of people who initially present with symptoms of depression or anxiety, PTSD symptoms, and dissociative issues all demonstrate improvement through their work using EMDR. For a comprehensive list of clinical trials and meta analysis studies on the efficacy of EMDR, follow this link. https://www.emdr.com/research-overview/
The length of time for an individual to experience positive results depends on the presenting issue and the complexity of the trauma. What’s. more, therapists can adapt treatment focus if it is necessary for you to keep your services brief. For complex trauma issues this is not advisable and you may want to engage into a different therapeutic modality. It would be important for you to address this issue with your therapist. Lastly, EMDR can still be used within the standard clinical hour.
Who can provide EMDR therapy?
In conclusion, now that you know more you might be intrigued enough to want to explore EMDR further with a therapist. Ensuring you are matching yourself with a therapist who has the training and experience in correctly using this modality is important. Here are a few things that you can ask to fully understand your therapist’s competence in providing EMDR therapy:
–What organization sponsored your training in EMDR?
*EMDR clinicians who receive training from EMDRIA are taught comprehensively in the EMDR protocol.
–Are you certified in EMDR?
*Certified EMDR therapists have spent additional supervision hours post initial training under the consultation with a Certified Consultant to enhance their knowledge and skill base.
-How often and when do you use EMDR in your clinical practice?
*This will help you to inform you of their experience and application in using EMDR with clients.
There is much information to absorb here. Do you want to learn more? Take a moment and watch this youtube video created by EMDRIA for additional information. Many of our therapists are trained in EMDR and will work with you in your journey towards wellness. Please visit our clinician’s page to find a provider that can serve you!
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