Working with trauma

An emotionally traumatic experience is one that represents a threat to our safety.  This could be one event or an accumulation of apparently smaller events. 

Our natural response is to mobilise a lot of energy in order to to resist the threat or to get away from it.  If neither of these options is possible we can freeze in this charged up state.  It is a bit like driving a car with both the accelerator and the brake acting at the same time.

Over time, even in apparently non-threatening situations, this 'freezing' can cause physical symptoms of panic attacks, thumping heart, sweating or exhaustion as well as psychological ones such as anxiety, flashbacks, fear and nightmares.

During psychotherapy we can use a gentle process of bringing awareness to sensations and feelings in the body which gradually allows the trapped energies to dissipate at the same time as reconnecting with our inner resources.  It is not necessary to describe, relive or even remember the original traumatising event.  Indeed this may be from our earliest experience and not available to conscious memory.