What is Trauma? 

A simple definition of trauma is this:

Any time a negative event or experience is greater than our ability to cope well 

Our ability to cope is limited by our resources. Specifically our internal and external resources. 

Our resources help us cope and can protect us from some of the effects of stressful experiences. 

If you go through a car accident, but you have good insurance and a friend loans you a car for a few days you probably are having different experience than someone who struggles with chronic pain and doesn't have access to transportation anymore. 

Most people think that what happened is what determines if an event is traumatic, but that's only half the information! 

What helped them cope is equally important. That's why sometimes two people can live through the same event and have completely different reactions.

When the stressors overwhelm our ability to cope, it can become traumatic stress. If someone has experienced a very traumatic incident or multiple traumatic incidents, they may experience PTSD. PTSD does not usually get better on its own.

How does someone know if they have PTSD?

The best way to know would be to have a qualified person assess them for PTSD. Here are some of the signs that a person might benefit from an assessment:

• After experiencing a traumatic event, parts of that experience start to intrude into daily life. 

• Because intrusions are awful, they try to avoid them. 

Examples of Intrusions:

• • • Nightmares

    • Flashbacks

      • Flashbacks can be more than just images or sounds! It’s possible to have flashbacks of all the different senses including touch, taste, or smell.

    • Suddenly feeling as though the event is happening again

    • Images that you can’t get out of your head

    • When something reminds you of the event, your body reacts. (ex: Heart races, stomach clenches, mouth goes dry, etc.) 

    • Strong negative emotions such as guilt, horror, anger or shame

    • Feeling like you have to be on high alert all the time, or can’t get yourself to calm down

    • Difficulty sleeping

Examples of Avoidance symptoms

• • • Trying to avoid any reminders so you don’t have the intrusive symptoms

    • Not being able to remember parts of the event

    • Feeling disconnected from your feelings, others, or your life

    • The event not “feeling” real

    • Difficulty connecting with feelings related to the event (You can talk about what happened during the event like reading a newspaper, but can’t talk about how it felt)

    • Difficulty connecting with feelings at all

    • Isolating yourself

    • Sleeping to avoid thinking or feeling

    • Frequently feeling numb

    • Having trouble connecting with the people you love, 

    • Losing interest in things you once enjoyed.

    • Using substances to avoid thoughts and memories.

A standard screener for PTSD that is used by many different professionals is called the PCL-5. You can find a copy of that document here on the National Center for PTSD's website:

There's a lot more information about PTSD on their website as well. Click here. 

We can also help with evaluation for PTSD. If you would like to schedule a consultation you can:

• Call us at (423) 558-4204,

• Email us at: sam@kawacounseling.net and amiko@kawacounseling.net 

• Make a request through our client portal: Client portal