Understanding the Trauma Response Dave Wyner, MA, LPC, NCC, CCTP, CGCS 720.551-8951 | [email protected] www.APathForwardCounseling.com About this booklet Hello! My name is Dave Wyner and I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor in Louisville, Colorado (just outside of Denver). In my practice, called A Path Forward Counseling, I help people find a path from post-traumatic distress to post-traumatic success. That includes recent traumas, childhood and developmental traumas, big life transitions, and grief. I put together this booklet to provide a brief summary of the ways our bodies are designed to react to threats and the ways our bodies can get stuck in those reactions long after they’ve served their purpose. This booklet is not intended to be a comprehensive explanation of trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. Many good books have been written on the subject (I highly recommend Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score and Peter Levine’s Waking the Tiger), so what I’ve tried to do is distill a lot of very complex information into easily-digestible explanations. I’ll be the first to admit that many subjects are only briefly summarized and some not covered at all. I firmly believe that a personal, trusting relationship with a trauma-trained mental health professional is the best forum in which to explore and expand upon these topics. This booklet is not intended to be a substitute for professional mental health support. I welcome your feedback and questions about this information. Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at 720-551-8951 or [email protected]. Here’s to your courage, resilience, and growth. P.S. While I’ve primarily focused the following pages on researched-based, generally-accepted information, I have interspersed my own perspective on trauma and healing in a handful of places. If you’d like to read more about my perspective and thoughts, please check out my website, including my blog posts, at www.APathForwardCounseling.com. © 2020 A Path Forward Counseling. All rights reserved. www.APathForwardCounseling.com 2 What is trauma or a traumatic situation? A good place to start is to understand what constitutes a traumatic situation. I tend to cast a wide net when considering what qualifies as “trauma.” Here’s how I define it: An experience or situation that a person subjectively perceives as a threat to his or her physical or emotional safety over which they feel they have no control and/or that overwhelms his or her resources to handle it. There are three categories of trauma: “big T,” “little t,” and “H”. Big T trauma Little t trauma A single, catastrophic event (i.e. an A persistent, pervasive situation or accident, natural disaster, military circumstance or an event that may combat, street violence, physical/ appear to outsiders as smaller or sexual assault or abuse, significant less catastrophic than a big T medical conditions or interventions, trauma (i.e. bullying, harassment, death of a loved one) emotional abuse/neglect/invalidation, relationship loss, pet loss, non-life threatening injury) trauma Ultimately, the only definition that H matters is your own. What matters Hidden or historical traumas like isn’t what others think “should be” racism, poverty, and discrimination traumatic, only what YOU feel is traumatic for you. © 2020 A Path Forward Counseling. All rights reserved. www.APathForwardCounseling.com 3 How the body responds to a traumatic situation The part of the nervous system responsible for responding to stressful and threatening situations is called the autonomic nervous system. This system is made up of two equal and opposite branches. The sympathetic Sympathetic Parasympathetic nervous system (“Fight or flight”) (“Rest and digest”) This is the part of the system that prepares your body to Dilates pupils Constricts pupils fight or flee from a threat. When one or more of your senses detect danger, this Reduces salivation Increases salivation system sets into motion several physical changes designed to help your body Increases heart rate Decreases heart rate protect itself. You can think of the sympathetic nervous system as your body’s Stretches/opens airways Relaxes/contricts airways gas pedal. The parasympathetic Inhibits stomach activity Stimulates stomach activity nervous system This is the part of the system responsible for Inhibits intestinal activity Stimulates intestinal activity returning your body to a baseline state of arousal Increases release Reduces release once the danger or threat of glucose of glucose has passed. It’s also the part of the nervous system that Increases release Decreases release shuts the body down when of epinephrine and of epinephrine and norepinephrine norepinephrine it’s not possible to fight or flee from danger (i.e. the freeze response). You can Relaxes bladder Contracts bladder think of it as your body’s brake pedal. © 2020 A Path Forward Counseling. All rights reserved. www.APathForwardCounseling.com 4 Three responses to threat Fight Flight Freeze The body mobilizes it’s energy The body mobilizes its energy The body begins to shut down and resources to actively and resources to flee from and the brain dissociates with protect itself by deterring or the threat. the body to blunt the pain eliminating the threat. caused by the threat. This is the “deer in the headlights” or “playing possum” response. Sometimes, “playing dead” can actually deter the assailant If the fight or flight is successful, the body’s physiological or predator. response is “completed” and the mobilized energy is released from the body. In the wild, if an animal tries unsuccessfully to fight or flee omfr a predator, it may, as a last resort, employ the freeze response. If playing dead successfully deters the predator, the animal that froze will then use ways of discharging the pent-up energy the body initially mobilized to fight or flee (i.e. whole-body shaking). Humans don’t typically employ effective discharging methods, which can lead to a thwarted or incomplete threat response that becomes “stuck” in the body. This stuckness can be felt as both physical and emotional symptoms. ! A very important point ! The fight/flight/freeze response to a threat is OUTSIDE our conscious control. It’s directed by a primitive survival center in the brain. And everyone’s brains are wired differently. One person’s brain may react by fighting, another by fleeing, and still another by shutting down or freezing. It’s not like, when faced with a threat, the cognitive part of your brain stops and thinks, “Hmmm. What are the pros and cons of fighting in this situation?” Far from it. Sometimes, even when the brain and body mobilize energy and begin to fight or flee, the danger persists and, in response to inevitable or imminent pain, the brain switches survival tactics and begins shutting the body down; freezing. Why is this important? Because a lot of trauma survivors, especially those whose brains and bodies went into freeze mode, carry guilt, shame or hopelessness with them for the way they reacted in the moment of threat. “Why didn’t I fight? Why did I just shut down like that? I’m so weak. I’m such a coward.” My message to survivors: No. You. Are. Not. Again, the way the brain and body react in a moment of threat is NOT a conscious choice and it is NOT a statement of anybody’s character. © 2020 A Path Forward Counseling. All rights reserved. www.APathForwardCounseling.com 5 Why trauma leaves such a big impact Trauma can change the way the brain works The threat-perception system The filtering system Tells us when danger requires a response Helps us figure out what’s important – This becomes dysregulated, making survivors – During a traumatic event, survival depends hyper-alert to threats and prompting them to see on being hyper-attuned to the threat. threats in places, situations, or behaviors others – After the event is over, this system can may find non-threatening. remain hyper-active. – The brain doesn’t distinguish between real and – Everything seems important and perceived threats; between ego threats and requires immediate attention. physical threats; between “being safe” and – This increases chronic stress load. “feeling safe.” – Or, it can become shutdown/disconnected. – When the survivor perceives a threat, – Nothing seems important. his or her body reacts as if the threat – This reduces motivation. were very real. – Either way, the survivor can find it hard – This interferes with the survivor’s ability to feel to focus on and attend to what’s actually fully alive and calm and to find pleasure in what going on around them in the moment. they used to. The self-sensing system The executive system Helps us know what we feel and gives Helps us think and plan us a sense of our body in relation to – During a traumatic event, when the body’s our environment reactions are being directed by the more – During a traumatic experience it’s not safe primitive threat-response systems of the to feel. Emotions can be useless, or even brain, this cognitive system goes offline; dangerous, so this system is blunted. it stops communicating with other parts – After the experience, this system can of the brain. remain blunted as a defense mechanism – Later, if the survivor is triggered, this system to cope with uncomfortable feelings and again goes offline as other systems prepare physical memories in the body. the body to fight, flee, or freeze. – This doesn’t just dampen the – This makes it virtually impossible response to pain; it also dampens to use reason and logic to respond the response to pleasure.