Trauma Survivor? Why Body-Based Therapy Is Essential

When many people think of “trauma survivors”, they think of combat veterans, victims of abuse, sexual violence, physical injury, or those who have survived life-threatening circumstances. These kinds of experiences are also most commonly associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
These are sometimes referred to as “Big T” traumas.
However, there are actually many more “trauma survivors” that fall into the “little t” trauma category. Essentially, “little t” trauma would be any distressing experience or event that one considers “traumatic”, such as:
• Living in a chronic stressful environment, feeling unsafe
• An injury (not life-threatening, but still traumatic)
• Being bullied
• Experiencing loss (people and pets)
• Witnessing something traumatic (can happen to policemen, firemen, paramedics)
• Job loss
• Relationship breakup/divorce
• Other personal stressors
As the understanding of trauma advances, more and more professionals are refusing to overlook the reality that multiple “little t” traumas accumulated over time can lead to PTSD, leaving people with subpar emotional functioning.
In fact, the newer sciences are addressing it nicely.