How We Make Sense of Trauma

Making Meaning of Traumatic Events

In this episode, the host explores the concept of making meaning and interpreting the meaning of traumatic events. She emphasizes that the memories of traumatic events themselves are not the focus of trauma therapy, especially in cases of complex PTSD. Instead, the focus is on what those memories meant and the emotional learnings associated with them. She provides examples, such as how the response of family members to childhood sexual abuse or physical abuse can be more impactful than the specific details of the events. The importance of understanding developmental capacity, including children's limited perspective, is highlighted. The episode also discusses how trauma survivors create predictive models about relationships, the world, and themselves, based on their traumatic experiences. The goal of trauma therapy is to explore and reprocess these meanings and emotional learnings, ultimately integrating the perspectives of the inner child and the adult self.