Types of Trauma and How We Talk About It in Therapy

The Many Ways We Can Experience Trauma and How it’s More Than Just PTSD

In the mental health world, we talk about a variety of different conditions and symptoms. We talk about anxiety. We talk about depression. We talk about OCD, PTSD, and more. But one thing that many of them often have in common is “trauma.”

Individuals can develop mental health challenges for a variety of reasons, and potentially no reason at all. But in many other cases, a person’s mental health can relate directly back to their traumas. As therapists for trauma and trauma related disorders, our work at Long Island Psychology often takes us face to face with different traumas, and has us address those struggles in order to address the conditions they create.

What is Trauma?

Trauma, at least in the field of mental health, is a psychological response to distressing events that overwhelm an individual’s ability to cope, leaving lasting emotional, physical, or psychological effects.

Trauma can be situational, such as experiencing a robbery. It can be long term, such as challenges related to how you were parented or how you struggled socially. It can even be something you feel – something that you did not specifically experience but yet still had an effect on you and your mental health.

It’s safe to say that most people have experienced some “traumas,” even if they did not have a lasting impact on the person’s life. Yet others are still struggling today, and potentially with any one of the many different types of traumas that exist in today’s world.

Types of Trauma and How They Relate to Mental Health

Trauma can have classifications and categories, though most of the time we talk about traumas, we do not specify the type of trauma. Rather, we talk about the response to it. Still, some of the types of traumas include:

• Acute Trauma – Acute trauma stems from a single, distressing event that causes intense emotional or physical harm. This type of trauma is often unexpected and can leave the individual feeling overwhelmed and unsafe. Examples include assault, loss of a loved one, a car accident, etc. This type of trauma can create a number of challenges, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with symptoms such as anxiety, hypervigilance, or intrusive memories
• Chronic Trauma – Chronic trauma results from prolonged exposure to stressful or harmful events, such as domestic violence, abuse/neglect, bullying, or living in a dangerous town/city. Unlike acute trauma, it occurs over an extended period and often involves repeated experiences of fear, stress, or danger. It can lead to a number of complex emotional and behavioral patterns, including difficulty trusting others, heightened emotional reactivity, and long-term mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety.
• Complex Trauma – Complex trauma arises from exposure to multiple traumatic events, often of an interpersonal nature, that occur during critical developmental stages. This type of trauma is particularly associated with experiences that involve a betrayal of trust or abuse by caregivers or authority figures. Examples include witnessing domestic violence or experiencing physical or emotional abuse or neglect as a child. Complex trauma can have profound effects on emotional regulation, self-esteem, and interpersonal relationships. It often leads to long-term issues such as dissociation, attachment difficulties, and an increased risk of mental health disorders like borderline personality disorder (BPD).
• Secondary or Vicarious Trauma – Secondary trauma, also known as vicarious trauma, occurs when individuals are indirectly affected by someone else’s traumatic experiences. This is common among professionals who work closely with trauma survivors, such as therapists, first responders, or healthcare workers. Symptoms of secondary trauma include emotional exhaustion, intrusive thoughts about others’ experiences, and a diminished sense of safety. Left unaddressed, it can lead to burnout or compassion fatigue.
• Developmental Trauma – When we use terms like “neglect” we often do so with negative connotations, such as a parent that actively and purposefully neglects a child. But neglect – and in some cases abuse – can occur without malice, where a parent was simply unequipped to handle some of the stresses or parenthood due to income, time, mental health, etc. In cases like this, it may result in developmental trauma, which refers to adverse experiences during early childhood that disrupt a child’s sense of safety and attachment, significantly impacting emotional and psychological development. Developmental trauma can result in attachment disorders, difficulty regulating emotions, and increased vulnerability to mental health issues later in life.
• Systemic or Collective Trauma – Systemic trauma affects entire communities, populations, or societies due to shared experiences of oppression, discrimination, or large-scale events. This type of trauma often spans generations and has widespread implications. Examples include racism, historical events such as living through a genocide, and collective experiences like the COVID-19 pandemic. Collective trauma can result in widespread mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. It also contributes to intergenerational trauma, where the effects of traumatic experiences are passed down through families or communities.
• Generational Trauma – Generational or “intergenerational trauma refers to the transmission of trauma’s effects from one generation to the next. This occurs when the unresolved emotional or psychological consequences of trauma in one generation influence the behaviors and experiences of subsequent generations. Examples include trauma passed down from survivors of genocide or war, or family patterns of abuse, neglect, or addiction.

Other types of trauma exist as well, including medical trauma, environmental trauma, and more. All of these can have a life altering impact, and may affect a person’s mental health in the short and long term.

Recognizing and Addressing Trauma

Every type of trauma is unique. But, no matter the type of trauma, a person can begin to address it and move forward with the right mental health support. Examples include:

• Trauma Informed Therapy
• Trauma Support Systems
• Trauma-Related Coping Strategies

We at Long Island Psychology have also developed our own trauma program that focuses on the establishment of “grit” and “resilience,” designed specifically to help people identify and respond to their trauma and learn new ways to strengthen their coping skills and move forward from those past experiences.