The true meaning of life lies in our memories. The memories and the experiences we have as a child and as a teenager forms the basis of our behaviour and our actions. It might seem strange but the fear of darkness you avoid or the aroma of the soft earth you love is all because of the childhood experiences you had. So, our childhood is the mould of our future. But the question is, why does this happen?Â
Isn’t it true that most of us our born with a house and a safe environment. As children, we envision a world that is safe. We imagine a house that is filled with love and nurturing. It is a place where a child can learn and grow in an environment that fosters curiosity and delight. So if this is the ideal case, then how does it happen that some of us end up with traumatic experiences that haunt us in our adult life too? In this blog, we shall discover it all, the science of our memories that develops into childhood trauma, how it impacts people and how can we heal from our childhood trauma. This blog will offer you compassionate assistance as you work through the healing process from childhood trauma. You might think of it as a lantern that will light up dark regions and give you hope when you’re feeling down.Â
What is Trauma?
Let us first begin by understanding the term trauma. Trauma is the most commonly avoided, overlooked, rejected, misunderstood, and treatable cause of human misery. In true sense, trauma is an emotional response to a past event that might have caused shock or denial to an individual. We typically use the term “trauma” to refer to the often debilitating symptoms that many people endure as a result of perceived life-threatening or overwhelming events like an accident or a disaster. So, when we use the word ‘trauma,’ we often talk about an injury to the psyche. This is not a stressful or disturbing event. Both have an emotional and physical consequence, but neither is necessarily harmful to the psyche.
Trauma has a variety of effects on us. A traumatised combat veteran, for example, who jumps every time a car backfires, is clearly reacting to gunfire he has previously encountered. It’s also simple to notice the correlation when a person who has been tortured and confined breaks out in a cold sweat while travelling in a crowded elevator. In a nutshell, trauma is the loss of connection to oneself, one’s body, one’s family, one’s friends, and one’s environment. Because it doesn’t happen all at once, this loss of connection can be difficult to notice. It might happen gradually over time, and we adjust to these minor shifts. So, now the question is how does trauma lead on to form a permanent member in our brain.
Table of Contents
The Science behind Childhood Trauma: The Effects of Childhood Trauma on Your Body and Mind
Childhood Trauma has a great effect on our body and mind. It has an effect on the development of the right hemisphere. Many psychological issues are related with the right hemisphere and right orbitofrontal cortex. Empathy, digesting emotional experiences, trust, an affective theory of mind, and evaluating social signals are all things they’re in charge of. In the early phases of life, the right hemisphere develops quickly and is dominating. The right hemisphere ‘reads’ social signals, which are then processed and related to our self-perception. In this way, our ‘implicit I’ (sense of self) is located in the right hemisphere, which is associated to emotional meanings, nonverbal and social communication, attachment, intersubjectivity, empathy, and self-image.
The brain grows in a hierarchical manner. Only when a child is in a safe, engaging relationship with a parent or caregiver can he or she develop normally. The elements for optimum brain development and a positive sense of self are a secure attachment, engaging responsive parenting, and the fulfilment of developmental needs. A person who is exposed to traumatic events early in life is at danger of having negative consequences for the development of his brain, other body systems, and his ability to interact and associate with others. These changes in brain structure and function, as well as changes in social interaction, prepare an individual to live in a dangerous world. The degree and scope of the trauma will very certainly be reflected in the individual’s adult functioning. So, when traumatic experiences hits our brain, we store those memories and each time we experience something close to it, we get trigger and we either fight, flight, freeze or fawn.
Adults who experienced childhood trauma frequently experience stress, fear, anxiety and disorientation. Their brain either runs in a hyperactive, stimulated mode or shuts down in order to relieve stress from their past. They are either energetic and reactive, or despondent, detached, and numb. They’re either awake and worried, or they’re blank, unconnected, and preoccupied with themselves. They cannot learn from new experiences in those states, even if the experiences are beneficial and restorative.
How to Heal Childhood Trauma
Understanding and processing
Trauma takes a toll on our mind. At first, we begin by dismissing the event, and then refusing to accept. The first step that a coach should take to help a client with a traumatic experience is to help them understand and process the traumatic past experiences. The individual must begin the process of childhood trauma healing by acknowledging the event that the person is not responsible for.
Establishing safety
The individual’s initial responsibility is to establish safety, which he or she must sustain throughout the phases of joining, engaging, creating an alliance, and relationship building with their environment. The objective is for the individual to feel safe. It’s critical to feel safe enough to access the default mode network, the part of the brain dedicated to self-reflection and relational thinking.
Coaching
Coaching can help you come out of emotional trauma. By identifying the traumatic patterns in your life, coaching can help you learn how your previous trauma is affecting your current life. A coach can assist you in starting a conversation with your split inner parts in order to uncover messages and create a process that allows your inner parts to express their emotions and share information. Thus coaching can help in trauma recovery.
Attachment
A coach’s role is to provide a safe environment for the client to explore. Coaching clients with traumatic background requires a lot of attention. It is emphasised that the coach must embrace and assist the troubled client, and his primary aim should be to increase the individual’s well-being. A coach is empathetic, sensitive, and attentive. He urges the individual to examine his current and past ideas, feelings, and actions.
Grounding
Trauma causes people to lose touch with their bodies. Grounding and centering reintroduces us to the resources that are already present in our bodies. It’s critical to re-establish your connection to the earth as well as your body’s centre of gravity, which is where movement and feeling begin.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practise of devoting undivided attention to becoming completely aware of one’s thoughts and feelings in order to have better control over how one responds to them. Mindfulness is a way of looking at things that combines our ability to see ourselves with our natural sense of compassion for ourselves. As a result, it’s your ability to look at oneself objectively and accept yourself. The development of this beneficial process of introspection improves recovery enormously.
Sense of Self
The last stage of healing through childhood trauma is to develop a sense of self. It often happens that traumatic experiences causes a damage to a sense of self, where we forget our emotions and our self. Reestablish the sense of self so that you can get in touch with your true self and true meaning.
Surviving Versus Thriving
Recovering from childhood trauma can be a surviving versus thriving race. Learning to cope with unpredictably changing inner emotional weather is an important part of recovery. The Surviving Thriving continuum is maybe the ultimate facet of all things. It may appear like life is nothing more than a fight to live before we enter recovery. However, as our healing improves, we start to feel like we’re thriving. These feelings may begin with feelings of optimism, hope, and confidence that we are on the mend. Then, because recovery is never all forward movement, the bottom inevitably drops out. We’re back to feeling like we’re just scraping by, which is so unfair. To make matters worse, we are completely oblivious to the fact that we have been spared from death. We polarise back onto the surviving end of the continuum after another flashback. We’re locked in the abandonment mix’s nervous and deadened feelings.
Always remember, the process may be slow and emotional but the result is rewarding. The energy we are now devoting to trauma will be released, and the space that trauma has taken up inside of us can be filled with new, more positive energy that can assist you in creating a life that you will enjoy. Give yourself the chance and come out of your childhood trauma.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Trauma?
Trauma is the most common source of human suffering that is ignored, missed, rejected, misunderstood, and treated. Trauma, in its true sense, is an emotional reaction to a past incident that generated shock or denial in the individual. We commonly use the term “trauma” to describe the frequently debilitating symptoms that many people experience as a result of events that are thought to be life-threatening or overwhelming, such as an accident or a disaster.
What is the effect of childhood trauma on or body and mind?
Childhood trauma has a significant impact on our physical and mental health. It has an impact on the right hemisphere’s development. The right hemisphere and right orbitofrontal cortex are linked to a variety of psychological disorders. They’re in charge of empathy, processing emotional experiences, trust, developing an affective theory of mind, and assessing social signals.
How do adults respond to childhood trauma?
Stress, fear, worry, and confusion are common among adults who have experienced childhood trauma. In attempt to remove stress from the past, their brain either functions in a hyperactive, stimulated manner or shuts down. They are either energised and responsive, or depressed, disconnected, and numb.
How to heal childhood trauma?
- Understanding and processing
- Establishing safety
- Coaching
- Attachment
- Grounding
- Mindfulness
- Sense of Self
How can coaching help in overcoming emotional trauma?
Coaching can assist you in overcoming emotional trauma. Coaching can help you realise how your earlier trauma is affecting your current life by detecting painful patterns in your life. A coach can help you start a discussion with your split inner parts to unearth messages and develop a technique that allows them to express their emotions and exchange information.
