Hey pal,
In psychology, there are two notions of trauma. Trauma with a Big T and trauma with a Little T. Trauma with a Big T often meets the diagnostic definition for PTSD. Folks who have been in direct contact or were a witness to life-threatening or severe bodily harm, death, sexual violence, repeated physical abuse, long-term neglect or even first responders may have from trauma with a Big T.
Sometimes because trauma with a Big T seems so heavy, some of us might not consider that we have any trauma at all. But before we jump to those conclusions, let’s look at Trauma with a little t.
This kind of trauma can come from things like receiving severe, repeated criticism from a parent, breaking your leg from a car accident, or coming home to find you were burglarized.
I’m not a mental health professional, but I don’t think one needs to be to understand how trauma can have an impact on daily living. How it can reach through space and time and direct our behaviors today.
I don’t want to talk about trauma to help propel a narrative of victimhood or to be stuck in the past. I want to talk about trauma as a call to anyone suffering from it to please seriously consider the work of healing your wounds. It’s difficult, but things that are life-changing often are.
My conversation with Chantel Chapman is all about her research and her online program called Trauma of Money - which is an online training with a compassionate approach that explores frameworks for healing collective and individual traumas to create financial safety and well-being.
Your favorite finance friend,
