Renowned traumatologist Bessel van der Kolk talks about the signs and symptoms of trauma for both children and adults. There are many emotional states and difficulties that we face on a daily basis that we don't normally associate with traumatic events. Dr. van der Kolk explains what trauma looks like on an everyday basis and how recognizing these signs can be the beginning of our healing.
We are just now starting to come to grips as a society of the collective effect of trauma on all of us and the ways that we can start to heal ourselves and our community. The major issues that we currently face such as global warming, lack of community connection, racial and economic inequality, and increased hostility towards each other have a trauma component at their root. Because we are all interconnected, the traumatic events that happen to one person or community affect us all, so all of us have a responsibility to heal the trauma in our own lives as best as we can so we can be resources for each other in our healing process. With some of the problems that we face seeming to be intractable, it can be easy to give in to a sense of hopelessness. Another option is to empower ourselves to direct our healing energy inward in that through healing ourselves we are directly contributing to the healing of the entire planet.