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Join an event. Happening today.

Trauma

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Welcome to Ask Me Almost Anything, an event where you can ask our guest psychologist almost anything about a topic. Send us your questions, and Rashida will answer them live on the 22nd of November. 

 

 

Experiencing, witnessing or hearing about a traumatic event is overwhelming – it can bring up many emotions. 

 

If you've been through a distressing event and haven't felt quite like yourself since this discussion might be a helpful way to make sense of your experience and find ways to heal. 

 

In the meantime, we have a great article explaining trauma and tips for coping. I recommend giving it a read, especially if you've been through a distressing event in your life. 

 

Talking about trauma is hard, but you might've noticed that it's being discussed more often – on social media and in society generally. It's a conversation that can bring up questions, memories and feelings that are difficult to make sense of on your own. 

 

So, we're here to create a safe space for you to explore any questions you may have about trauma with our guest psychologist, Rashida. 

 

Here's a little bit about Rashida 

 

 

Rashida is a Registered Psychologist in Sydney; Working in Private Practice and feeling honoured to work with the clients she does. With a special interest working with identity, culture and purpose. 

 

A life-long love affair with wanting to understand people, their lives, experiences and worlds, and how it all intertwines and shows up in the way we behave led her down a path of travelling and living all over the world whilst studying Psychology. Passionate about advocating for destigmatizing mental illness and creating a more holistic approach to mental well-being.

 

Also a lover of nature, art, music, chai and sleep - all the great things in life

 

 

🛀 Remember to take care of yourself when reflecting on trauma. Self-care is different for everyone, so think about which activities help you unwind and destress. 

 

 It might be that you don't join this discussion, or perhaps you'd like to submit a question and revisit the conversation when you're up to it.

 

📖 We'll be sharing trauma-specific support services on the night for anyone who needs to unpack their experience of trauma with a psychologist or counsellor.

 

👇🏽 If you'd like to send a question to Rashida, go ahead and submit it via the google form. 

 

 

Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 01-11-2022

Event Details

This event has ended

22 Nov 2022, 8:00 AM UTC

22 Nov 2022, 10:00 AM UTC

attending RSVPS (2)

    Tulip_Starling
    Iona_RO
 
 
 
 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 08:14 PM

Yes, this is so important! Safe, loving relationships are healing 💛

 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:55 PM

This is a brave question. It isn't easy to accept some of the experiences we face in life, but this question alone shows your strength 💜

 

It’s hard to accept painful stuff that has happened… any advice on accepting what has happened so I can cope with it, not be stuck in the past, and keep moving forward?

 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 07:59 PM

It is very hard to accept pain things that have happened.. My thoughts on this may challenge what the general messaging is out there and that is 

- Do you need to accept it to cope and move forward? 

Sometimes the reason something is hard to accept is because it is unacceptable. 

I don't know that accepting a traumatic or difficult experience is needed in order to heal and move forward. Sometimes what is needed is to acknowledge that it was painful, and should not have happened and therefore the emotions that surface about it are valid and reasonable - this may be what you need to cope and move forward. 

 
 
 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 08:02 PM

Wow, this is a powerful response!! 

 

"Sometimes the reason something is hard to accept is because it is unacceptable" 

 

 

 
 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 08:01 PM

On the other end - If you do feel that accepting it will lead to helping you cope and move forward, then I would take your time with that journey of acceptance. The acceptance may not come as quick as you anticipated or expected and that is ok. There is no shame or harm in taking it a bit slower to get to a place of acceptance.

 
 
 
 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 08:03 PM

Beautifully said 💛

 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:47 PM

 

 

Do people recover from trauma?

 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 07:50 PM

Yes! People can successfully recover from trauma. I have had many clients who have recovered from their trauma and are living fulfilling, joyful lives.

 

I would always recommend working with a professional if you feel you have experienced something traumatic and want to process it. 

 

If working with a professional is not something available to you, ReachOut has some great resources that are trauma specific and trauma informed to help which @Bre-RO has shared!

 
 
 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:52 PM

This reminds me of how resilient we human beings are and that there's always hope 🌅

 
 
 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 07:54 PM

We are so resilient, adaptable and strong!

We can become empowered and can go onto live happy, fulfilled, purpose driven lives. It is truly an honour to witness someone recover from their trauma ❤️

 
 
 
 
 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:57 PM
 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:38 PM

Thank you to the community member who submitted this question. It’s so upsetting to witness traumatic things happen to others, and I’m glad you reached out because I know you’re not the only one with this question.

 

I saw something traumatic happen to someone else and even though I didn't know them ever since I've been waiting for something bad to happen. Why do I feel like this when I wasn’t the one who got hurt?

 

 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 07:44 PM

I'm so sorry you have been witness to something traumatic. What you're describing sounds like a valid experience after witnessing something traumatic. 

 

We hold empathy and compassion for others and when we observe someone being hurt or experiencing trauma, even if we don't know them, we can often be signifantly affected. 

 

It is never nice to witness someone going through something difficult and I would say it displays your care and says alot about the type of person you are. 

 

I would reach out for support if it is starting to affect your life and become an experience of ongoing distress

 

 

 
 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 07:47 PM

Many people working in the helping / emergency and volunteering with victims fields, including medical professionals, therapists, lawyers and emergency personel experience something called 'vicarious trauma' which is when there is an overload of hearing or witnessing others trauma. This is something to be mindful of and to be managed in order to ensure it does not continue to cause ongoing distress.

 
 
 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:46 PM

I completely agree with what you said about this community member @GuestPsychologistRD This question speaks volumes about their caring character! 

 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:29 PM

There are so many great questions this eve, so let's get into the next one @GuestPsychologistRD

 

 

What's the difference between PTSD and complex trauma

 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 07:33 PM

PTSD is typically experienced after one, single traumatic event - e.g an isolated natural disaster, being the victim of a crime, whereas complex trauma is often experienced after multiple accumulated traumatic events or experience. Complex trauma can be the result of childhood trauma or can be experienced as an adult. There is also C-PTSD which is complex PTSD and is the combined experience of complex trauma symptoms and PTSD symptoms.

 
 
 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:37 PM

Great explanation @GuestPsychologistRD👏 

 
 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 07:36 PM

PTSD includes symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks, physiological symptoms including racing heart, panic attacks, chronic anxiety. The symptoms will persist 6 months post the traumatic event occuring.

 

Complex trauma is often an experience of the above plus erratic and unpredictable emotions, challenges in being in a relationship with others, difficulty with attention and focus, can last for years and can make it become debilitating to show up in other areas of life.

 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:16 PM

I was so happy to see this question come up because it can be pretty tricky to navigate trauma vs a really difficult situation. I’m sure many of us have wondered the same at some stage - let’s see what Rashida has to say.

 

What can be classified as trauma? How do you know if what you've experienced is trauma or just a really difficult situation? Also, since people have different reactions to different things is it possible for someone to react as if they would if they experienced trauma in a situation that may not be considered as trauma (or as life threatening?

 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 07:24 PM

I would also say that not every challenging situation someone goes through has to be classified as traumatic. 
It is amazing how much awareness there now is about trauma however it can cause difficulties in treatment and management, if everything that is a difficult experience starts to become classified as trauma.

 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 07:22 PM

Excellent question! 

 

Many things can be classified as trauma, some of the things we know to be traumatic are sexual assault, family and domestic violence, racism and discrimination, war, loss, bullying, certain illness and physical health concerns, natural disasters. 

However as the question highlights - due to people having different reactions and responses to certain experiences you can still experience trauma even if what you have faced doesn't fall into the above categories or wasn't life threatening

 

 
 
 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:29 PM

It is an excellent question, right? I'm always blown away when reading through the questions we receive for AMAA's 

 
Bre-RO
Bre-ROPosted 22-11-2022 07:08 PM

We have some really well-thought-out questions tonight so let's get stuck into them @GuestPsychologistRD😊

 

What is trauma?

 
 
GuestPsychologistRD
GuestPsychologistRDPosted 22-11-2022 07:12 PM

Trauma is the psychological/ emotional response to a distressing experience/ event or situation. Trauma can be chronic, acute or complex. It can be a response to something life threatening or what feels like (is perceived) to be life threatening but it trauma can be experienced even if the situation wasn't life threatening.

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