What is trauma?

According to the official definition of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the DSM-V, to meet criteria for PTSD, one must have exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence.

Additional criteria include experiencing intrusive memories, nightmares, flashbacks, intense distress at reminders

Avoidance of thoughts/feelings, external reminders

Negative alterations in mood including inability to recall key features of the trauma, over-negative beliefs about oneself or the world, blaming self or others, reduced interest in activities and feeling detatched

Alterations in arousal/reactivity - irritability, angry outbursts, reckless/self-destructive behavior; hypervigilance; exaggerated startle response, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbance

Lasting more than one month and causing functional impairment

Through research pioneered by Francine Shapiro who developed EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Shapiro coined the term “small-t trauma” which further expanded the definition of trauma. This was important to answer questions around “how can I still have negative alterations in my belief and moods even when nothing ever SO bad has happened to me?” This more inclusive term of trauma helped explain the distressing experiences that got stored in our brain in a way that confirmed beliefs around “I’m not good enough.”

Complex trauma