When experiences keep working
Types of trauma
Trauma occurs when you experience something that is too big, too overwhelming, or too painful to process at that moment. This can be one major event, but also something that has slowly built up over the years.
At Affect2U, we look at trauma with gentleness and without judgment. Whether trauma comes from one shocking moment, from a troubled childhood, or a story that has lasted for generations, your experience deserves attention and recognition.
1. Childhood trauma
These are childhood experiences that have a long-term impact on emotional development and relationships.
Examples include emotional neglect, an insecure attachment with parents or carers, growing up in a family with addiction, violence or mental health problems, long-term stress or instability at home, and unresolved grief.
This type of trauma can later lead to problems with emotion regulation, self-esteem, relationships, and addictive behavior
2. Relational trauma
Relational trauma occurs within important relationships.
Examples include toxic or destructive relationships, manipulation or control, emotional or psychological abuse, and repeated betrayal or loss of trust.
This can manifest itself in fear of commitment, dependence, sex or love addiction and recurring relationship patterns. Codependency is an unhealthy form of relationship dependence where someone sets aside their own needs and identity to care for someone else. Self-esteem becomes highly dependent on the other person. This pattern often results from attachment problems in childhood.
Characteristics include excessive adaptation, control needs and a lack of clear boundaries.
3. Sexual trauma
Examples include childhood sexual abuse, cross-border sexual experiences, sexual harassment or assault, and traumatic sexual experiences within relationships.
This can later lead to shame, dissociation, compulsive sexual behavior, and problems with intimacy.
4. Complex trauma
Complex trauma occurs when someone has experienced multiple traumatic experiences over a long period of time.
Possible features include chronic shame or guilt, difficulty with boundaries and a sense of identity, strong emotional fluctuations, and addiction or compulsive behavior as a coping mechanism.
5. Intergenerational trauma
Intergenerational trauma usually refers to trauma passed from parents to their children.
This happens through parenting, attachment and behavioral patterns. An example is a parent with unprocessed trauma or addiction problems that have an impact on the child's emotional functioning.
6. Trauma linked to addiction
Many clients at Affect2U use substances or certain behaviors as ways to deal with previous trauma.
This can be related to unprocessed emotions, inner emptiness, stress or overstimulation, and feelings of shame or self-loathing. That is why addiction is often treated in combination with trauma processing.
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