Trauma doesn’t always announce itself.
It can live in the body, in dreams, in a sudden reaction that seems to come from nowhere. It can take the shape of anxiety, numbness, irritability, or a sense of being disconnected from the present moment.
For some, trauma is linked to a single event. For others, it’s something that happened again and again — or something that never quite happened, but should have. It may be remembered in detail, or not at all. What matters is not whether something seems traumatic from the outside, but how it’s lived.
PTSD is one way trauma can take hold — through flashbacks, nightmares, or a constant state of alertness that makes rest feel impossible. But not everyone who has been through trauma meets a specific diagnosis. The effects may show up subtly, years later, woven into the fabric of everyday life.
In therapy, there’s no need to retell or relive what happened before it’s possible. The work begins where it’s bearable — by creating a space where something painful can be spoken, or even just approached. Not to erase the past, but to loosen its grip on the present.
