Healing and Hypnotherapy Volume 2, Issue 7, (January 1, 2018) | Page 29

Single Event Trauma
Single event traumas are isolated events perceived as traumatic , for
example an accident , violence , rape , or witnessing either of these .
You know what happened and when , maybe even what time it
happened.
Summary Trauma
A summary trauma is an alarm state that the amygdala may have
created from a number of, maybe even unrelated experiences .
Examples of situations that can contribute to create this kind of
traumatic stress are events that happen separated by a period of time
, like challenging childhood , followed by an ac- cident or loss later in
life. Neither of these events were considered traumatic at the time ,
but the sum of them can start triggering traumatic stress responses. A
summary trauma can also be the result of experiencing stress over a
long period of time, for example being a single mother to a challenged
or sick child.
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The Snowball of Stress Responses
“Women who have been raped get traumatized , not only from the
rape itself , but also from being pointed at by the others in the
community . The shame is so bad that they get traumatized again .
They often isolate themselves . A woman who gives birth after being
raped will also suffer for that. And the children will be traumatized too
since they are seen as offspring of the enemy.”
From a workshop with women in Mumosho, Congo
Some traumatic stress reactions are related to our ways of
rationalizing about what happened:
" Why did I survive and not everyone (guilt)?
" Why did I not make more resistance when I was violated
(shame)?