What is developmental trauma?
Developmental trauma occurs when one of our basic needs is not sufficiently met during our early development. In each of the developmental stages, a specific basic need is the focus, and a fundamental skill is learned through it. In the beginning, the needs for contact and attunement are most important. If there is enough secure contact, we develop a sense of safety. If a disruption occurs during this phase, it is, for example, difficult to feel oneself, and it may feel unsafe or dangerous to be in self-contact – meaning, to feel oneself.
If we have experienced good attunement—meaning our mother had a good sense of what we needed and how—then, generally speaking, it is easier for us later on to feel what we need ourselves. So, it is easier for us to be in touch with our needs.
Other basic competencies involve trust and autonomy.
Developmental trauma can go very deep and can have a structural influence on our personality. I can, for example, be so dissociated from my needs that the adaptation becomes part of my personality.
When to work with developmental trauma?
Das ist vielleicht erstmal eine komische Frage, und doch eine wichtige Frage. Wenn eine Adaption für mich funktioniert – also ich habe gelernt mit dem Schmerz/ der Wunde umzugehen – dann ist es auch nicht nötig womöglich alte Wunden aufzureißen. Es geht nur darum was machen, wenn eine Adaption, die ja als Schutzreaktion etwas gutes hat – wenn diese nicht funktioniert und mich an etwas hindert was mir wichtig ist. Es sollte also vor allem um das hier und jetzt gehen und um die eigenen Wünsche – ein vorwärts schauen.
My perspective on working with developmental trauma
Trauma is as complex as every human being is complex and multifaceted. That is why every process is different and takes different amounts of time. But it definitely takes time. Therefore, acceptance and self-compassion are particularly important and, in time, allowed to grow. It is a mix of intellectually understanding the causes, the adaptation/patterns, and emotionally understanding what is happening inside you. It also takes time to first build the capacity to feel what I may have locked away for a long time. Furthermore, it is important to repeatedly bring attention to the here and now, and to what is pleasant or good at the moment. Especially with developmental trauma, it can be that my inner alarm sensor is on all the time, looking for the error. However, if the inner alarm system is on all the time, it is difficult to initiate positive changes. Therefore, it is particularly important in the beginning to work specifically with that.
The process
If you would like to learn more about my work, you are welcome to book a free discovery call. I offer this so that we can look together at what the issues are and how I can support you with my methods. This allows you to get an initial feeling.
Then we would arrange a first session, in which I gain an overview of your history, the topics, symptoms, what you have already done, etc. Following that, we create a preliminary plan, addressing which topics we will tackle, how we will do so, and how long the therapy might last. Furthermore, we will go into a first session, allowing you to get more of a feel for the work.
Trauma therapy takes time, for example, for the body to feel safe again and for new pathways in the brain and behavioral patterns to form.