What is Trauma & How can Counselling Help?

Trauma is experiencing something or multiple things which feel outside of your ability to cope creating overwhelm, a sense of powerlessness along with fear of potential death . It doesn’t matter if the experience is happening right now or perceived because it is the impact of the experience(s) which determines if something is traumatic. What determines the impact is a number of factors, the level of care and connection the individual has had and currently has, the support they receive during and after the traumatic experience(s), their age, past life experiences, the coping strategies they have available to cope and manage with difficult experiences.

Because it is how a situation is experienced and the impact which determines something being Traumatic it can be a build up of what to the outside world feels are smaller things that could trigger a bigger Traumatic response to events which is then not as understood as if it where 1 or more big events.

How someone copes and manages trauma is as unique as they are and the support needs to be tailored to the person, which is one of the reasons Counselling sessions can be so effective because they can be flexible and tailored to the individuals needs.