There are many definitions of psychological trauma. I use a very wide definition of trauma. To me it means that something has been broken, and needs repair. This is the definition we have for tissue trauma (a wound), and it is compatible with many definitions proposed by famous psychologists. I like the simplicity of the one Freud offers (below).

“[Trauma is] a breach in the protective barrier against [over]stimulation, leading to overwhelming feelings of helplessness”

— Sigmund Freud

“[...] over which we have no control, and to which
we are unable to respond effectively no matter how hard we try.””

— Flannery

What trauma does not mean, even in the DSM-V, and contrary to common belief, is that it is something that is damaged beyond repair.

I believe we all have trauma. I believe it is inherent to the experience of growing up. It is painful to realize that we are separate from our parents, and that our parents will not always be there for us. That is if we had a very healthy relationship with our parents. It gets even more painful if they were not there for us, physically or emotionally, and if they hurt us.

The definitions doesn’t matter so much as what we can do about it.

“Traumatic symptoms are not
caused by the event itself. They
arise when residual energy from
the experience is not discharged
from the body. This energy
remains trapped in the nervous
system where it can wreak havoc
on our bodies and minds.”

— Dr Peter Levine

In simple terms, all we need to do is create the conditions under which the body can discharge the residual energy, and come back to our normal state. As Levine describes in his books, we see animals do this when they shake after something difficult happened to them.

The trick is to move slow, to notice if the body has the capacity to hold the smallest increment of such a discharge, and to titrate so we don’t roll back into the experience, and experience another overwhelm of the system.

I primarily work with trauma through SE and Regulatory Touch.