What is Trauma? 

It is a response to distressing or disturbing event(s) that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope. Trauma can result in emotional, physical, and psychological harm. 

Types of Trauma 

1. Acute trauma results from a single incident. 

2. Chronic trauma is repeated and prolonged such as intimate partner violence or abuse. 

3. Complex trauma is exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events over a long period of time. Complex trauma can negatively impact your sense of self, your ability to manage emotions, and your relationships with others. 

Types of Traumatic Experiences 

• Family trauma: Abuse, neglect, experiencing or witnessing domestic violence, death, incarceration, substance abuse, mental health or other critical health challenges, divorce/separation 

• Grief and Loss: The death of a loved one, friend or community member 

• Disasters: Hurricanes, floods, accidents, wars, terrorism, pandemics 

• Medical trauma: Pain, injury and serious illness, invasive medical procedures or treatments, acute of chronic illness  

• Sexual trauma: Exposure to and/or experiencing of sexual violence 

• Poverty: Lack of resources, support networks, or socioeconomic mobility, financial stressors, homelessness 

• Refugee and/or Immigration trauma: Exposure to war, political violence, torture, forced displacement, migration and living in a new culture, fears of deportation 

• School violence: Threats, fights, school shootings, bullying, violent loss of a student or staff member 

• Workplace Trauma: Threats, harassment, bullying, assaults from co-workers, clients, managers or the public 

• Racial Trauma: Injury caused by encounters with racism, racist abuse, racial bias, ethnic discrimination, microaggressions, hate crimes and violence 

• Community violence: Robberies, shootings, assault, gang-related violence, hate crimes, violent encounters with law enforcement, group trauma affecting a particular community 

Strategies for Trauma Awareness 

1. Understand what trauma is and how to recognize it. 

2. Understand that trauma is prevalent in our society and people and communities respond to it in many different ways. 

3. Understand that trauma can be personal (related to traumatic experiences in a person’s life), complex (based on factors such as family history, race, gender, or class) or collective (a traumatic event or experience that is shared by a group of people). 

6 Guiding Principles to a Trauma Informed Approach