Big T Little T trauma

Who cre­at­ed two cat­e­gories? No one real­ly knows. What we do know is that these two terms have become pop­u­lar among psy­chother­a­pists and the gen­er­al pub­lic. The pub­lic will com­mon­ly asso­ciate Big T trau­ma with some­thing gen­er­al­ly accept­ed as life-threat­en­ing — think: nat­ur­al dis­as­ters, sex­u­al and domes­tic vio­lence, or ter­ri­ble acci­dents. It could also mean war, mur­der, rape and nat­ur­al dis­as­ters. Los­ing a loved one can also fall under the Big T umbrel­la. Some­times, the response to a trau­mat­ic event con­tin­ues long after the stress­ful event has end­ed. That’s when your men­tal health suf­fers, and the door is open to con­di­tions like PTSD and anx­i­ety dis­or­ders. On the flip side, Lit­tle T trau­ma is linked with events that, while not life-threat­en­ing, can cause sig­nif­i­cant emo­tion­al dis­tress.

How does this hap­pen? When some­thing life-threat­en­ing or severe­ly dis­tress­ing hap­pens, your body’s flight, fight or freeze response is acti­vat­ed. In that time, the amyg­dala in your brain is called on to react to the stress­ful sit­u­a­tion, and pro­tect you. Brains that are not able to switch back after a big event can remain in a stuck state and thus expe­ri­ence symp­toms of PTSD, if not the full diag­no­sis, as it can be a con­se­quence of Big T trau­ma.

On the flip side, Lit­tle T trau­ma is linked with events that, while not life-threat­en­ing, can cause sig­nif­i­cant emo­tion­al dis­tress, espe­cial­ly when they hap­pen repeat­ed­ly over time — think: suf­fer­ing a breakup, expe­ri­enc­ing pub­lic humil­i­a­tion, break­ing a leg, emo­tion­al neglect from a part­ner, get­ting bul­lied, being in a car acci­dent, recov­er­ing from a car acci­dent, or los­ing a beloved pet. While phys­i­cal safe­ty may not be in dan­ger, the events that define Lit­tle T trau­ma are pow­er­ful enough to cause the same kind of trau­ma as Big T.

While dif­fer­en­ti­at­ing trau­mat­ic events based on scale may not nec­es­sar­i­ly be a bad thing, the act of sep­a­rat­ing the two can cre­ate prob­lems. How? When some­one expressed they are going through a hard time and share some­thing in the “Lit­tle T” trau­ma, your reac­tion may min­i­mize that person’s expe­ri­ence and dimin­ish the impact of their trau­mat­ic events. Take the exam­ple of a child called out and pub­licly humil­i­at­ed by an adult for mak­ing a sim­ple mis­take. That’s deemed a ‘lit­tle’ event in the pub­lic domain. Yet, it can open doors to real­ly neg­a­tive emo­tions like guilt, shame, depres­sion and anx­i­ety. Small as they may seem, Lit­tle T trau­ma can cut very deep. It can change your view of the world and your­self in an extreme­ly neg­a­tive way, caus­ing you to feel fun­da­men­tal­ly flawed and unable to lead a hap­py, every­day life. Whether big or lit­tle, trau­ma can cause dam­age to anyone’s life, and as such, its impact must nev­er be under­es­ti­mat­ed.

Feeling safe after a traumatic experience and finding hope

Hope is a pow­er­ful moti­va­tor in the heal­ing process. It allows you to believe that it is pos­si­ble to feel bet­ter and live a ful­fill­ing life again. Accord­ing to research, there is such a thing as post-trau­mat­ic growth — a life after the stress dis­or­der ends. Post-trau­mat­ic growth refers to pos­i­tive changes that can occur after trau­ma, such as increased empa­thy, resilience, and a deep­er appre­ci­a­tion for life. While it does­n’t erase the pain of the expe­ri­ence, post-trau­mat­ic growth can empow­er you to find mean­ing in your suf­fer­ing and build a stronger sense of self. The after­math of trau­ma can leave you feel­ing unsafe and vul­ner­a­ble, but it does­n’t have to define your future. Rebuild­ing a sense of safe­ty is a big step in heal­ing. If you’re not quite ready to talk with a ther­a­pist, two effec­tive ways to cul­ti­vate a safe space for your­self after expe­ri­enc­ing trau­ma include:

Build a Strong Support System

Sur­round your­self with peo­ple you trust and who can offer emo­tion­al sup­port. These can be friends, fam­i­ly mem­bers, a coach, or reli­gious leader. The goal is to have a safe space to express your feel­ings and expe­ri­ences with­out judg­ment or unnec­es­sary clas­si­fi­ca­tions.

Practice Self-Care

Pri­or­i­tize your­self. Engage in activ­i­ties that nur­ture your phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al well-being. This could include exer­cise, relax­ation tech­niques like med­i­ta­tion or deep breath­ing, spend­ing time in nature, or engag­ing in hob­bies you enjoy.

Online EMDR therapy in Utah

Trau­ma, big or lit­tle, can be a life-shat­ter­ing expe­ri­ence, but it does­n’t have to define your future. If you’ve been through any type of trau­ma and are already suf­fer­ing its adverse effects, talk to a ther­a­pist to begin the heal­ing process. Don’t let these cos­met­ic clas­si­fi­ca­tions stop you from get­ting the help you deserve. Big T or Lit­tle T trau­ma does­n’t mat­ter. Only you do.

Try ther­a­py today; Eye move­ment desen­si­ti­za­tion repro­cess­ing (EMDR) ther­a­py is one of the most effec­tive trau­ma ther­a­py treat­ments, and the gold stan­dard treat­ment for PTSD. As a res­i­dent in Utah, access to telether­a­py ser­vices is avail­able, no mat­ter where you live. And, tele­health, just like EMDR, works for both Big T and Lit­tle T trau­ma.

Book a free con­sul­ta­tion with me so we can talk about your trau­ma and move past it once and for all.

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