What is Trauma?

We live daily with increasing reports of violence in our communities and in the world. War is an ever-present reality, and terrorist warnings are served along with our morning coffee. We are living in a world in which the media bombards us with the damaging sights and sounds of violence. In some communities, gangs and drive-by shootings are the norm, and throughout the country, domestic violence seems to be on the rise. All of the violence we experience or witness creates trauma. Sometimes we are not even aware of the effects of these occurrences, or fail to connect them to the daily assault on our senses.

Trauma is a rip in our soul. Trauma occurs whenever anyone is involved in or witnesses a life-threatening event, or any event that harms one psychologically, emotionally or physically. Trauma can be caused by one single event, or repeated events. Living in a highly violent environment causes people to become hyper-vigilant as a survival strategy. That hyper-vigilance can lower the startle response, trigger the fight/flight response, trigger a dissociative response, increase sleep disturbances, increase irritability and anger, and negatively impact the body's chemical and hormonal system. Traumatic experiences continue to have an effect even after the initial shock of the trauma has passed. Sometimes we are unaware of how the trauma impacts us until something triggers and reopens an old trauma built up in our psyches from long ago.

Although traditionally regarded as a psychological disorder, trauma also has a profound effect on the physical body. Up until recently, conventional approaches (i.e. talk therapy and antidepressants) used to treat trauma on a psychological level merely provided trauma sufferers with coping skills rather than offering them the opportunity to heal from the emotional, physical and spiritual effects of trauma. Thus, in order to truly understand and heal from trauma on every level, we must apply a multimodal approach that addresses the whole person-mind, body and spirit.

Odyssey Quest, Inc., is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) that offers holistic and integrative health care interventions, multi-cultural spiritual counseling, clinical services, and preventative educational strategies to individuals and families through educational programs and conferences, wellness programs, consulting services, training workshops, community forums and discussion groups.