Trauma exposure impacts everyone in myriad ways, impacting the mind, body, spirit and surroundings. I think the way that trauma impacts us involves the kind of trauma we experience. For example, trauma can be psychological, such as a threat of death or injury, which may result in feelings of fear, helplessness or lack of hope. Additionally, the trauma could cause such stress that it impacts physical wellbeing, resulting in head or stomach aches. This stress could further impact a person’s spirit, resulting in grief, disengagement or disconnection. A person may socially isolate themselves, changing their environment, or even displace themselves geographically to create distance between themselves and the trauma.
Adverse childhood experiences have been proven to impact us further down the road, even in adulthood. Not only do traumatic childhood experiences impact us psychologically, overtime, the stress can increase risk of heart problems, diabetes mellitus type 2, obesity, depression or anxiety, and poor life choices such as substance abuse and smoking. Over time, ACES can also result in bad grades, more time off of work, and even early death.
As a future healthcare provider, it is vital that I have a strong understanding of how trauma impacts us throughout the life span. That includes the ability to apply the Trauma-Informed Care principles to my practice. This includes safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural/historical/gender issues. In other words, I must be able to keep my patients’ individual needs and background in mind during the care process, while also acting as a source of support and guidance. Healing from trauma is a team effort and requires other care team members to collaborate in order to provide support, empowerment, and a sense of safety to the client. All in all, everyone experiences and deals with trauma differently, and therefore may need different methods of treatment in order to regain peace.
