Beneath the Surface: The Body’s Silent Story of Trauma
Photo by Roman Melnychuk on Unsplash
I listened as she told me what had happened. More than that, I watched.
Her hands clasped her face.
Her legs shook underneath the table.
Her voice trembled.
Her cheeks flushed bright red.
Her body leaned forward in the chair.
Her hands rubbed nervously together.
Her eyes filled with tears.
Her teeth chattered.
Her body spoke almost as loudly as her voice. Perhaps louder.
Her words told a hard and painful story. So did her gestures.
It poured out of her. It seeped out her pores.
Everything about her screamed—“TRAUMA!”
What is Trauma?
It’s a word we hear a lot, perhaps too much. It may at times even be overused or misused.
It is often misunderstood.
The Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center states that trauma “results from exposure to an incident or series of events that are emotionally disturbing or life-threatening with lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, and/or spiritual well-being.”
Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., a scientific researcher, active therapist, and author of the renowned work, The Body Keeps the Score—Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, defines trauma as any event that overwhelms the central nervous system, altering the way we process and recall memories.
Trauma can be connected to a single, isolated incident or to multiple incidents. The effects of trauma are lasting, and they can affect every dimension of a person.
Experiences that may be traumatic include, but are not limited to: physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; poverty; racism; violence, war, terrorism; childhood neglect; sudden separation from a loved one or pet; natural disasters; evacuation and security threats.
Trauma used to be primarily associated with the military and terrorism. However, most trauma takes place in families, schools, and neighborhoods.
It not only has lasting effects on one’s mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being, but it also affects one’s relationships, work productivity, and ability to learn, stay calm, and be focused.
I thought about the woman telling her story. The circumstances were devastating. The event was now over, but the effects were not.
Trauma in the Body
Today, as I listened and watched, it was no longer about the earthquake, the car accident, the mugging, or the shocking conversation. Rather, it was about the effects of trauma on that person. It was about the consequences of trauma on the body.
That hurting woman was carrying the story, the trauma, in her body—whether she realized it or not.
“We have learned that trauma is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present. Trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way the mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think.” —Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
I thought again about the woman who had been talking to me. Even if she had not told me about a tragic event, her body told me. Even if she had not described painful events, her body did. It was clear in her actions and reactions that she did not feel safe.
Van der Kolk describes that “one of the most devastating effects of trauma is that people’s biology changes into a biology of threat; this is expressed on multiple levels, in stress hormones, immunology and what the brain selects to pay attention to. As a consequence, traumatized people stay on hyper alert; they feel chronically unsafe and in danger.”
Because trauma affects the entire person, any therapy to address the trauma has to touch all dimensions. Past, traditional psychological treatments included cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT), desensitization techniques, and/or drug therapies. Although these methodologies may be helpful, more is needed to be able to heal the body of the trauma.
“Being traumatized is not an issue of faulty cognition,” according to Van der Kolk.
One of the biggest challenges for those carrying trauma in their brains and their bodies is learning how to regulate themselves. One can activate this innate capacity by learning how to use movement, breath, touch, and rhythm. Some methods that Van der Kolk utilizes are yoga, tai chi, and dancing.
Pause and Listen
“Can we pause in your story for just a moment?” I suggested to the woman sitting across from me. “Would you be willing to lay your hand on your heart and close your eyes? Wait, breathe, and listen to what your heart, what your body is saying.”
She stopped. She waited. She breathed in slowly through her nose and out slowly through her mouth. I counted. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. [pause]
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
She listened to her heart, to her body.
I watched her.
Her body sat back gently in the chair.
Her hands relaxed—one across her heart, one in her lap.
Her leg shaking slowed down until it stilled.
Her cheeks became less flushed.
Her mouth loosened, and her teeth quieted.
She slowly opened her eyes.
“What do you notice?”
She described what she felt in her body—the sensations, the locations. She was ready to continue talking, but she had just tapped into a different place—her body.
After all, it wasn’t only about the event, it was about her experience—the experience at every level—mind and body.
