Trauma

About this topic

Trauma is not measured by how large the event looks from the outside. It is shaped by what happened, what you were able to do at the time, and whether the experience was met and made sense of afterwards. It can live in the body as much as the memory, in a startle that fires too fast, a numbness that arrives without warning, or a story that will not settle.

The pages below are written for people trying to make sense of what happened, and what it left behind. They are general information, not a clinical assessment. If you would like to talk to one of us, you can start with a Meet and Greet.

Therapy for trauma →

Answers

1. "Is there really a difference between Big T and Small T trauma?"
2. "What is developmental trauma?"
3. "What is brainspotting and what happens in a session?"
4. "What is trauma bonding?"
5. "Why does talking about my trauma sometimes make it worse?"
6. "What is minority stress, and is it different from individual trauma?"
7. "Can it be trauma if it was not life-threatening?"
8. "Why does my body remember things my mind does not?"
9. "How do I know if I have unprocessed trauma?"
10. "Why do I freeze or shut down when I try to remember?"

Guides

• The size of trauma is the wrong question
• Developmental trauma is different territory
• What brainspotting actually does
• Minority stress is structural, not personal
• The nervous system, and being retraumatised by telling
• Trauma bonding is not love

Worksheets

• Window of Tolerance
• Trigger Response Inventory
• Grounding Anchor
• First Session Preparation

More reading on related topics

• Nervous system
• Body-based approaches
• Identity
• Neurodiversity-affirming
• Evidence-based