Understanding Trauma

Many people associate trauma with a single, overwhelming event—and that is one valid form. However, trauma is not limited to major incidents.

Clinically, trauma can also be understood as any experience that was too much, too fast, or too soon for your system to process. It’s what happens when the past continues to intrude on the present.

Trauma may stem from a single incident or accumulate over time through multiple events. There’s also complex trauma, which often results from repeated, smaller disruptions—what we might think of as micro-tears in a person’s emotional or psychological framework. Over time, these add up and can have significant impact.

Trauma is nuanced. It doesn’t always look the same from one person to another. And the good news is—there are ways to work through it.

This poem offers a small glimpse into how trauma may manifest, and what healing can begin to look like.

You may not know it,

But it finds a way

To show up,

To find the light of day.

It wants to come out

To be named

Deserving to be witnessed

Not tamed.

Hiding, over-sharing…

I’m fine.

How are you?

…Only some of the signs

More intensely

Startle-responses, dissociation

Dissonance, disorders, and

Disorientation

Flashbacks,

Isolation and Pain

Horrific Nightmares

Am I insane?

Images, memories

Like a riptide

Emotions, cognitions

Anxiety swimming inside

———-

Some way, some how,

YOU find your guides,

Your light, your wisdom

You are present to soothe your inside.

Day by day, unburdening

Each memory, Each part

Showing up to the work,

Until you can catch your breath, and its lighter in your heart.

Its slow. It can be dark.

But you feel something different

You are building something good

Deep in your bones, you know it’s worth it.

Now,

There’s new information.

I’m an adult. I’m safe.

The goodness of adaptation.

You are not perfect

But, you are here

Attuned with wisdom,

Capable of navigating your fears

In time, we see your transformation

Wings stretch out with colors so bright

You are free, you are  alive—

And, the butterfly takes flight.

🤍