How Trauma Works: The Four Traits That Keep It in Place

Written by Roland Bal

We have got to clear up what we mean by trauma, as the word itself is heavily loaded.

Trauma means anything that leaves an emotional residue in the system and interferes with its normal function. Thus, our definition of trauma is taken into a wider context, putting it on par with what we call conditioning.

A highly pleasant sensation can also leave an emotional residue in the system due to a developed attachment. This, in turn, can set up a negative pattern of craving, which will interfere with the organism's normal functioning.

Trauma means anything that leaves an emotional residue in the system and interferes with its normal function.

The Two Categories

The various facets of trauma are innumerable; however, we can categorise them roughly into two categories: developmental trauma and incidental or shock trauma.

Developmental trauma is what happens when the stress is chronic and woven into the fabric of growing up — neglect, emotional volatility, an absence of safety over months or years. Shock trauma is what happens in a single overwhelming event — an accident, an assault, a surgery, a sudden loss. The nervous system mechanisms are the same in both cases, but the layering and complexity differ significantly. With developmental trauma, there is usually no single point of origin to return to. The entire environment was the trauma.

The Four Traits of Trauma

Trauma plays itself out always on all levels: mentally, emotionally and physically. Regardless of how it enters the system, all aspects of the human being are involved. The mechanism of trauma, however, is similar in all cases.

First: an unresolved impact. An impact, which can be physical or psychological, incidental or developmental, is not fully met and leaves a residue in the psyche and nervous system. The system was overwhelmed and could not complete its natural response — the fight that was never fought, the flight that was never run, the cry that was never heard.

Second: dissociation. There is a rationalisation of the event leading to a protective mechanism called dissociation. The system splits away from the full weight of what happened in order to survive. This is not a choice. It is the nervous system doing what it must when the overwhelm exceeds the capacity to stay present.

Third: reenactment. Replaying or reenacting the event, trying to solve, understand or overcome the impact of the event — feelings of guilt, blame and self-reproach are all inherent within the dissociation process and keep the trauma in place. The nervous system is attempting to complete what was interrupted, but without awareness and support, it simply replays the same pattern in new situations, new relationships, new conflicts.

Fourth: nervous system dysregulation. The nervous system is either hyperactive or hypoactive, which often leads to detrimental effects on normal daily functioning and manifests in a variety of pain symptoms, syndromes, and in severe cases with amnesia of the initial event. As Peter Levine puts it: "It is as if our instinctive survival energies are all dressed up with no place to go."

These four traits do not exist in isolation. They feed each other. The unresolved impact drives the dissociation. The dissociation fuels the reenactment. The reenactment keeps the nervous system locked in dysregulation. And the dysregulation makes it impossible to go back and meet the original impact — because the system no longer has the capacity. This is why trauma persists. Not because you are weak or broken, but because the mechanism is circular.

Reversing the Pattern

To unfold and resolve trauma one has to look at and reverse the dissociative processes. What is most acute for someone who is traumatised is the interpretation of the event as it is coloured by feelings of guilt, blame, and self-reproach. These are not the truth of what happened — they are the mind's attempt to make sense of helplessness. And they are the first layer that must be addressed.

Letting the story unfold while emphasising emotions and related body sensations allows the person to reclaim responsibility for his or her well-being and releases emotional residue stored in the nervous system. This is not about retelling the story endlessly. It is about tracking what the body does when the story is told — where the tension goes, where the breath catches, where the numbness sets in. That is where the work lives.

Having passed through the barrier of guilt, blame, judgement and self-reproach, energy is freed up in the nervous system and emotions can be seen for what they are. This leaves the person in a neutral space after release. Patterns that were put in place as a result of trauma can now be used as constructive strengths.

Using body sensation to understand and unfold trauma is an effective approach to resolving its effects. The body holds what the mind has filed away. The nervous system remembers what consciousness has forgotten. Meeting trauma at the level of the body — through sensation, through breath, through the careful reversal of dissociation — is how the four traits finally loosen their grip.