Everyone has some kind of trauma from childhood, but no two stories are the same. The depth and effect of these early experiences are very different for each person, depending on their specific situation, personality, and how their minds and bodies react to pain. A very important step toward real compassion and healing is to understand why trauma affects each person differently.
Different Levels of Trauma
Childhood trauma happens when big events or ongoing emotional pain make a child feel unsafe and unhealthy. Peter Walker, an expert on trauma, says that it’s not just the event that matters; it’s also how a child’s nervous system reacts and changes. Some kids go through acute trauma, which is a sudden, intense crisis that shakes them to their core. Some people go one time traumatic situation that was resolved with appropriate support, others go through complicated or long-term trauma, which is a series of long-lasting stressors or neglect that were never resolve and become CPTSD.
Because kids are vulnerable, having or not having caring support makes a big difference. Were your parents really there? Or were they too busy with their own problems to protect or comfort you? Maybe there was abuse or neglect. These things can help explain why one person seems to handle trauma better than another who has been through similar things. A lot of the time, the main difference is how the wounds from childhood were dealt with, whether they were pushed out of awareness, absorbed, or dissociated as a way to stay alive.
Walker stresses that trauma affects how we control our emotions, act, and interact with others by becoming deeply ingrained in our nervous system.
What is a flashback?
A flashback is a clear sign that trauma is still affecting you. It happens when something in the present brings back a vivid memory of a past trauma. This can explain why people sometimes “overreact” or feel overwhelmed for no apparent reason.
When you have a flashback, it can feel like the traumatic event is happening all over again, which can cause a lot of fear, confusion, or even dissociation. Walker says that these episodes happen because the nervous system is trying to make sense of trauma that hasn’t been dealt with and is stuck in both the body and the mind.
Flashbacks remind us that trauma can stay with us long after the pain is gone. To get your life back on track and start the healing process, you need to learn how to recognize and deal with these times.
Going Back to Childhood in Our Workshops
We honor the complexity of trauma in our “Regression to Childhood” workshop by taking a compassionate and carefully guided approach. Participants safely revisit past wounds or traumas that may have been buried or broken up in their subconscious by using a light trance hypnosis and gentle guidance.
This method is powerful because it can help people remember things that are hard to remember, even ones that are lost or dissociated. It also keeps the conscious mind grounded as a helpful guide instead of a harsh judge. This helps people get to the heart of the problem that causes compulsive repetitive behavior, which is the pain that keeps going around and around without getting better.
Through this process, people learn how to deal with strong feelings, gain new perspectives, and put together a healing story from their early experiences.
Psychological trauma: a wider view
Other top trauma experts agree with these ideas. Bessel van der Kolk’s groundbreaking research shows how trauma changes the way the brain and body respond to stress, changing emotional pathways and affecting health and behavior in the long term. Judith Herman talks about how trauma breaks trust and safety, and how rebuilding connection, empowerment, and meaning is important for healing.
Van der Kolk also stresses the importance of body-centered therapies along with traditional talk therapy, since trauma is stored in the body’s memory and needs a whole-person approach to really heal.
The Way Ahead
Knowing how complicated trauma is helps us understand why healing looks different for each person. We create a caring space where people can gently uncover, understand, and break free from the patterns that have been stuck in their lives since childhood by using tools like light-trance regression and drawing on the knowledge of experts like Peter Walker.
Most of the time, healing isn’t a straight line. But with time, help, and the right setting—a safe, caring place—it’s possible to be free of the effects of trauma.
Our workshop is a safe place for you to explore your story, get your voice back, and fully embrace your personal power if you’re ready to start this life-changing journey.
Author: Argentine psychologist Silvia Polivoy, Ph.D in clinical psychotherapy and co-founder of Spirit Vine Retreat Center in Bahia, Brazil.
