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What is 'Trauma'?

The word trauma is used in different ways by different people. In the context of Trauma-Informed Care, trauma occurs when the human body responds physiologically ("fight, flight, or freeze") to a stressful situation, and it does not have enough internal or external resources (resilience) for the body and brain to cope with the physiological stress being experienced.

When these traumatic experiences are extreme, or occur during childhood development, the body's stress response can become disconnected from the original source of trauma, becoming chronically overactive, or problematically reactive, even in situations where a stress response is not desirable or appropriate.

With appropriate resources and supports, many people can learn to manage this physiological stress response to improve their quality of life. This is what ‘trauma-informed care’ is all about.

To find out more about the concepts of trauma and stress, check our related resources page.

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