What it is:

The standard definition for trauma in mental health (sometimes called “big T Trauma”) is exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence, either directly or by witnessing or learning about such an event that occurred to someone else. Approximately X% of people exposed to trauma will go on to develop PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Children with trauma-based disorders tend to develop dysfunctional beliefs in three categories: 

• Beliefs about others (e.g., people are dangerous)
• Beliefs about the world (e.g., the world is unsafe or unpredictable); and
• Beliefs about themselves (e.g., I deserved what happened to me, I am worthless or defective, I am unable to cope with difficult circumstances). 

Children who go on to develop PTSD often experience intense emotional reactions to direct or indirect reminders of the trauma, such as flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive memories of the trauma. Associated symptoms such as an intense physiological response to trauma reminders (e.g., panic), an extreme focus on safety, or avoidance of things related to the trauma may also occur.

More recently, trauma researchers have begun to discuss what has been called “little t trauma.” This type of trauma includes any experience in which an individual experiences intense fear, shame, helplessness, or horror  and developed cognitive, emotional, and behavioral consequences as a result of the event(s) that fundamentally changed how the individual experiences his or her world. Examples of little t trauma include emotional abuse; a pattern of being humiliated, bullied, or emotionally threatened; experiencing a public or very important failure; or repeated experiences of helplessness or powerlessness.