How is Trauma Created? Story of Andy

It was a beautiful Sunday morning and the sun was sneaking behind the curtains, slowly bringing light into the room.

In the near distance, you could hear the sounds from the church and the priest chanting his prayers while the kids were playing and laughing in the court.

One could say this was a regular day in the neighborhood, just like the ones you see at the start of any good movie.

Nothing would predict what was to come.

As Andy was walking down the street holding his grandfather’s big and callused hand, he had no worries and no regrets.

He was happy it was Sunday and did not have to wake up “so much early” as he liked to say, to go to kindergarten.

Especially today, when he was visiting his grandfather’s hometown!

He was safe, secure and smiling. Like any child should be!

His grandfather took him for a walk and was telling him jokes with meaning, instilling small ideas and lessons in Andy’s young and absorbing mind.

Laughing and loving, holding hands and without a worry, they walked through the ‘hood, past the bakery and the flower shop in the corner, heading down to the main playground.

As they crossed the road, they are now walking by a fenced compound and Andy asked his grandfather what was in there?

Even before Tom, the grandfather, could say a word, a giant dog showed up out of nowhere, making very loud noises, got up on the fence in what looked like an attempt to jump over.

He was huge!

A big dog, standing on his behind legs so big that he was almost as tall as the grandfather.

He seemed so scary and vicious and ominous to little Andy that he screamed in fear and jumped in Tom’s arms pressing his face against his chest, trying to escape the enormity of dogs’ image in his head.

He wanted to sink in his grandfather’s body, to hide inside so he won’t have to face that ferocious animal, who was out to get him!

Tom started to calm him down, walking away from the fence and wiping Andy’s tears as they were running down his face like a fountain.

He comforted Andy the best he could and called his daughter June, Andy’s mom, asking her for advice on how to best calm Andy down and make him feel safe. She asked if there are any symptoms of trauma, such as a tremor in the body, slurred speech heart-pounding, vomiting, or loss of bowel or bladder control. All of these can be symptoms of emotional trauma and can lead to many repercussions.?

All of this took just a few seconds and, in an instant, Andy changed from a happy-go-lucky, no-worries-in-the-world child to a terrified and squeamish kid who would cross the street every time he would hear the word “dog”.

What started as a wonderful Sunday morning transformed into a deeply scarring and traumatic experience for Andy, one that would ripple through his entire life, changing the world he would see and interact with the world forever.

This is Andy’s story.

This could possibly be your story.

This is the type of story that many people share and they never had the chance to tell it or to free themselves from.

There are many causes of trauma!

In your case maybe it was not about a dog.

Maybe there was no grandfather.

Maybe there was no happy Sunday morning.

After all, this is just a story, right?

However, if you look deeper, you will find that almost all trauma stories are similar.

Similar in their elements and in the process of it.

?

So, What is Emotional Trauma?

Trauma is the result and not the cause.

IT is the effect, or the aftermath, of something.

And for trauma to occur we need:

1) An event or trigger

2) A reaction

3) An interpretation

4) A conclusion

The event can be anything, from dog barking to a bomb exploding, from something you see in a movie, to something you experience yourself.

It is NOT the event itself that is causing the trauma but your moment’s reaction to it.

This reaction is built on all the elements, most of them unconscious, present at the time. When I say elements I mean, your mood at the time, your past history, your environment, and so on.

Your reaction to the event gets logged into your mind an interpretation is constructed automatically and unconsciously.

This interpretation leads to a final conclusion, which becomes a belief, a value, a way of not only seeing life but interacting with yourself and the world around you.

In Andy’s case, the final conclusion of his experience was dog = threat/scare.

We leave in the shadow of permanent reactions to temporary situations.

And these reactions can be changed in one of three ways:

1) Professional intervention - seeking professional help from specialists

2) Self-help, self-therapy, and introspection - given the right tools, you can achieve miracles

3) A different, bigger emotion that can overcome the initial reaction and interpretation.

We can always do steps one and two intentionally. Step three is more like something would happen to us rather than us making that happen. Even so, with the right help and tools, you can still make step three happen.

Trauma is such a big topic and such a powerful one that it required focused study and a specialized approach. We often ask what is trauma but are we asking the right people??

Healing Trauma Summit

In the world of healing, therapy and recovery, there are professionals who specialized in working with trauma sufferers and survivors.

They dedicate their lives to studying trauma and creating methods, protocols, exercises, and techniques to help people not just deal with trauma but actually heal trauma and regain control over their lives.

And you now have the chance to learn from some of the best experts in the world and even ask them questions LIVE.

The 2022 Healing Trauma Summit is an event that brought together experts from many fields and many approaches to trauma, to give you a very informed opinion and help you heal trauma in your life or by helping others.

This event is entirely FREE. You don’t have to pay anything to attend and enjoy life-changing sessions and presentations.

It goes for 7 days with 5 or 6 sessions per day and you have access to amazing tools, techniques, methods, and approaches that have proven to be very effective in healing trauma.

Some of these experts have been helping people for over 30-40 or even 50 years. And they are now sharing their experience with you… for free!

Join the 2022 Heal Trauma Summit and learn how you can help yourself and how you can help others be trauma-free.

Click HERE to join now.