Trauma

What Is It?

Trauma isn’t just about what happened- it’s about what stayed. As Bessel van der Kolk writes, the body keeps the score. Your mind may know you’re safe now, but your body can still react as if the danger never ended.

Not everyone develops trauma symptoms after difficult events. Recovery often hinges on a few key ingredients: a significantly distressing situation, but feeling safe after the experience is over, having people who believe and support you, making sense of what happened, and giving your nervous system the space to reset. Without these, the imprint can last, sometimes for years after the event.

You might recognise trauma in:

Feeling on edge, hypervigilant, or easily startled even when you're in safe environments
Emotional numbness or detachment
Intense reactions to reminders of the event
Gaps in memory or difficulty recalling details
Chronic tension, pain, or other physical symptoms without clear cause
Avoidance of certain places, people, or conversations
Feeling like you’re reliving the event, even when you’re safe

Therapy for trauma isn’t about forcing you to ‘get over it’. It’s about creating the conditions for safety, connection, and healing that weren'y available back then, and for that, therapists trained in working with the nervous system, not just the mind, can be an important step towards healing earlier wounds.

What Can Cause It?

Trauma can come from a single overwhelming event or repeated experiences that slowly wear away at your sense of safety and trust. Common causes include: