MBHS Monthly Social – About TRAUMA

LEARN MORE ABOUT TRAUMA

Adonica Hennessy, Mental Health Trauma Therapist, will be presenting at our August Behavioral Health Social on the topic of trauma and how trauma’s impact on the human being can alter the way the brain fires, alter how a person perceives the world and alter how a person perceives themselves.

Here are some definitions of trauma that I would like for you to think about:

“Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individuals functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional or spiritual well-being.” (SAMHSA/ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)

“An extraordinary thing that really messes up your mind, brain and your body, trauma is a horrendous experience.” (Van Der Kolk, 2021)

“Collective trauma is devastating for individuals and for groups; it constitutes a cataclysmic event that affects not only direct victims, but society as a whole. Just as trauma at the individual level shatters assumptive worldviews about oneself and one’s position in the world so does collective trauma transform the way survivors perceive the world and understand the relationship between their group and other groups, even those unrelated to the initial victimization.” (Janoff-Bulman, 1992, Alexander et al., 2004; Bollhardt, 2012, Park, 2013, as cited in Hirschberger, 2018)

“By individual trauma, I mean a blow to the psyche that breaks through one’s defense so suddenly and with such brutal force that one cannot react to it effectively…by collective trauma, on the other hand, I mean a blow to the basic tissues of social life that damages the bonds attaching people together and impairs the prevailing sense of communality.” (Erikson, 1976, as cited in Hirschberger, 2018)

Please join me on August 30 to hear more about trauma, to eat, to socialize (community) and to dance for healing.  August 26th at 6 PM at Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel.

~ Adonica Hennessy, Mental Health Counselor