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Subtle Signs of Trauma: When the Wounds Aren't Noticeably Visible

Trauma continues to be a hot topic in the news and on social media. Most of the time it is related to something related to a celebrity, natural disaster, or any number of images that pop up on your phone. There is also a great deal of confusion around the difference in trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and symptoms of anxiety.



There are entire fields of study devoted to each of these. What I want to talk about are the more subtle ways that trauma can influence our lives that are not talked about all that often. These subtle forms of trauma don’t jump out and say “Here I am, you better get help.” Most of the time, we don’t even think about how these things affect us in our everyday lives. 


Family of Origin

The area that I want to talk about is our family of origin. I can guess that reading that the image that comes up is getting beat as a kid, emotional damage from a parent, or extreme neglect. Don’t get me wrong those are very clear-cut examples that can lead us to disfunction. When we are growing up, we are sponges. The blueprint of our adulthood is being drafted daily. No childhood is perfect and that is not a fair expectation. Take a moment and think about your parents' interactions with each other. Not the interactions and care they showed you, but rather how they treated each other.


What did you learn from those interactions?


Yelling, being dismissive, and not being able to have a conversation that led to a resolution are some examples of how our blueprint can change from having a firm foundation to needing some corrections. Some may argue that watching family dysfunction is not trauma, but if being in a negative environment for 18 years of your life doesn’t lead to dysfunction in our relationships, I don’t know what does. There is a good chance that your parents had a decent relationship with you, but not with each other. Watching persistent dysfunction in the people we trust and learn from can negatively impact our relationships later on. You can make up your mind if that constitutes trauma. When I meet with individuals with that kind of dysfunctional background though, the symptoms speak clearly.

 

Does this resonate with you? Do you have a desire to change?


At Mind Works Counseling Services in Lubbock, TX we specialize in Trauma Counseling and our team is ready to help you however you may need.


Learn more about the Trauma Counseling services we offer.


Contact us to schedule an appointment or ask any questions you may have.

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