Trauma can have a very profound effect on our physical and emotional wellbeing. , but it does not look the same for everyone. When the fight, flight or freeze response is triggered and we do not feel like we have the ability to take effective action on our own behalf, the bodymind will memorize the situation so that it gains survival advantage the next time something similar arises. 

In EMDR, we talk about Big T and small t traumas as a way to discern the differences in experience. Big T traumas are things like rape and war. Small t traumas, on the other hand, can be the most tricky. Small t traumas are the things like getting singled out by a teacher in 3rd grade. Or working hard to achieve something for it to not work out. These are the moments where the nervous system is activated, but it may not register to us as the type of threat that the body will memorize and act on subconsciously for years to come! Small t traumas are no less sensitive and no less impactful to the bodymind than Big T traumas, they are just less obvious to our logical brain!

How do you know if a big or small trauma is still impacting you? In this video I will explain some of the ways we “root out” traumas to discover if they are effecting you now. Once discovered, the reprocessing part of EMDR is an evidence based model of treatment that can help reduce or eliminate much of the body’s trauma response so that you are able to flourish in what we call “post-traumatic growth.”