Trauma
The Unnamed Pandemic

"We have to acknowledge that humans are a traumatized species."
~ Stephen Porges, PhD, creator of the Polyvagal Theory

Trauma affects all of us, individually and collectively. For generations, "trauma" was misunderstood as only something that happens to people in war, car crashes, or other extreme events. Of course, these sorts of experiences might be considered the "standard" examples of trauma, but advanced and vastly more nuanced research over the past few decades has revealed that trauma is a ubiquitous feature of modern industrial society. It is truly a global pandemic, affecting communities and individuals from all cultures around the world, albeit in immeasurably diverse ways.

Given this, we all need to become trauma-informed, or "trauma smart," so to speak. Trauma is the water we swim in. It affects us individually and personally; our relationships; families; schooling and education; workplaces; politics; communication; and health generally. Everyone is familiar with the symptoms of trauma, which are routinely misdiagnosed as "mental illness" or other diseases/disorders for which people are wrongly prescribed all sorts of biologically-manipulative and disruptive synthetic designer drugs and contrived treatments: symptoms such as depression, anxiety, attentional challenges, insomnia, mood swings, lethargy, IBS, and even many chronic illnesses. Relatively few of us really understand what trauma is, neurophysiologically speaking.

So, what is trauma?

Trauma, defined neurophysiologically, is chronic nervous system dysregulation resulting from getting stuck in a defensive/survival response long after the event that initially triggered such a response. For short periods of time, it is safe and adaptive to shift into such a state of hypervigilance and/or shut-down -- we evolved to do this as a protective ability. But, when we remain in such a condition of nervous system dysregulation (hyperactivity and/or hypoactivity) beyond the point where it is adaptively useful, this taxes our mind-bodies and can result in great harm to all sorts of biological processes and functions.

The Effects of Trauma

"Let us not shame our eyes for seeing; let us thank them for their bravery."
~Joy Harjo, U.S. Poet Laureate, from Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings

Trauma is not something to hide, feel ashamed of, deny, or neglect. It is a fact of life. We all experience its effects, directly and indirectly. Practically speaking, unresolved trauma has all manner of deleterious effects, such as:

• compromised health and well-being
• ineffective communication
• relational challenges such as distrust, manipulation, fear, anger, resentment, inauthenticity, and superficiality
• inability to focus/distractedness
• inefficient effort in personal life or work
• memory lapses
• over-reactivity/irritability
• so-called "mental illnesses" such as depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, etc.

The total costs of trauma -- in the forms of disease/illness; workplace performance/productivity; relational and communal harms; ecological harms; and other diverse forms of pain and suffering -- have not been calculated. Surely, they are astronomical.

The good news is that this need not be so; trauma is not an insurmountable mystery or permanent harm to which we can only helplessly surrender. Quite the contrary! The very phenomenon of trauma reveals the innate power of the human nervous system. When understood, this power can be engaged to our benefit, rather than our peril. Denying and avoiding trauma condemns us to being at its mercy, but facing, understanding, and responding intelligently to trauma presents us with an immense opportunity to leverage these experiences in ways that teach us, grow us, and evolve us far beyond the limits that define us when we're tethered by unresolved trauma.

Creating Trauma Smart Cultures and Communities

You don't need to be a professional expert and hold advanced degrees to understand and respond intelligently to trauma. Everyone can learn what trauma is, how it occurs, and how to respond to it so that its effects are curtailed rather than exacerbated. If you lead an organization, company, department, family, team, or institution, and you want to move your people beyond the restrictions attendant a culture of unaddressed trauma, we can develop a plan to create a trauma smart, trauma-informed culture in your organization. No, this is not group therapy. Through workshops and trainings, I teach people how to create their own tools and critical knowledge necessary for practically working with this reality of living in a global pandemic of trauma, as being part of a traumatized species and society. Everyone can be -- and should be, in my estimation -- "trauma-informed." We are all capable of this, and we all collectively rise or suffer to the degree that we have the courage to acknowledge this reality and choose to make good of it rather than submitting ourselves to a lifetime of needlessly compromised experiences, personally and professionally.

Contact me today to discuss how I can support you personally, or your organization, in responding intelligently to trauma.