Types of Trauma
Big “T”: These are major, life-altering events that threaten the physical and emotional health of an individual. Examples would include sexual assaults, combat experience, or accidents.
Little “t”: These are essentially toxic themes, or beliefs, created over time by repeated life experience. They work to create a faulty understanding of oneself and the surrounding environment. Examples would include ongoing teasing by peers growing-up, lack of parental involvement, and destructive relationships.
Past. Present. Future.
EMDR recognizes the damage past life experience can do not only in moments of remembering but also in continued dysfunctional behavior in the present.
If left unchecked, a cycle continues into the future, ensuring the individual perpetually lives in a destructive or unsatisfying manner. In a sense, if nothing changes, the past continues to effect the present and dictate one’s future.
It is a kind of trauma cycle. The process facilitated by EMDR assists the individual in gaining a healthy perspective in regards to the past.
EMDR also works to dislodge faulty beliefs. The present situation is targeted as well, leading to more positive beliefs and behavior.
Finally, focus is placed on the future, allowing the person to install how they will effectively incorporate their new skills, beliefs, and information in such a way as to end the destructive cycle. The result is a more effective handling of the past, better functioning in the present, and a healthier future.
What Is the ‘Trauma Cycle’?
The trauma cycle is a construct utilized to understand and describe the long-term impact of both big “T” and little “t” events. Trauma hinders a person’s ability to function fully, not only at the time it occurs but also in the way they perceive the past and what path they take in the future.
Negative impacts are felt emotionally, cognitively, relationally, somatically, and temporally. The individual essentially experiences trauma, responds by using the means necessary to “survive,” and acts according to this new trauma information and skills in place in the future.
Thus, the person will, perhaps unconsciously, seek out the same type of trauma situation over and over again. The goal is a corrective experience. The person seeks to go through the trauma and “get it right” this time. Perhaps the easiest way to fully explain this construct is with an example.
We will use the example of Susan, a 38-year-old wife and mother of three children. Susan was largely ignored growing up at home by her father, who was a workaholic. Career trumped all concern over family.
When her father was home, he was distant and dismissive, seeming annoyed by her desire for attention. The one area which seemed to catch his attention was her academic performance. She invested heavily in this, as her father saw the “value” of grades in regards to her future career.
