36 What is trauma? What makes an experience traumatic?
TO THE TRAINER
PART II: THE TRAINING
What is trauma? What makes an experience traumatic?
Aims. To explain trauma and responses to it, and share understanding of them.
TEACHING INSTRUCTION.
Section 5 of Part I( A brief introduction to‘ trauma’, page 13) can be used to present the concept of trauma. Either read it aloud or draw on it as background material.
Tell the group that, in order to convey what trauma is, and the psychological significance of trauma and trauma reactions, we will tell stories using metaphors. In particular, the story and metaphor of the Butterfly Woman will play a crucial role in the training. It can also be used by helpers to explain trauma and trauma reactions to survivors.
When you tell the story, do so as vividly as possible. Encourage the participants to identify with the metaphors.
Make sure to underline the following aspects of trauma
• Survivors of trauma may behave very differently after the event.
• Events associated with trauma reactions are often intense, grave and disruptive.
• The reactions that survivors show initially are survival responses.
• Traumatic events affect people in different ways in the longer term. Bear in mind that stories are metaphors.
EXERCISE
Exercise 4. What makes an event traumatic? This exercise is designed to clarify
• What makes a traumatic event special.
• Whether trauma is associated with specific cultural reactions.
• The effects of trauma.
Explain that a traumatic event is so overwhelming that people lose control. They feel helpless and experience extreme fear. Some will flee; others will not be able to move. It is an extreme event that generates exceptional human responses. Encourage the participants to reflect on your description of trauma, using their personal experience to do so. Ask them whether the reactions described are familiar to them, and whether they can describe other reactions that are specific to the local culture.