Orlando Therapist Explores the Difference between Physical Trauma & Attachment Trauma
Orlando Therapist Explores the Difference between Physical Trauma & Attachment Trauma
Written by: Lauran Hahn, LMHC
There's been a lot of discussion on childhood trauma recently. You could be hearing about betrayal trauma, insecure attachment, or inner child healing from your therapist, on social media, and in everyday conversations. This may prompt you to reflect on your childhood, wondering, "Did I really experience childhood trauma?" You may be unsure whether what you went through is enough to be considered a trauma.
As a trauma therapist in Orlando, I often witness this uncertainty. Some people know that they have experienced trauma in their childhood, while others may be really uncertain.
So, we are going to break down the difference between physical trauma and attachment trauma because they are two different things. While there can certainly be an overlap between these two types of childhood trauma, many people minimize their attachment trauma because they don't understand it or the impact it has. However, attachment trauma can have just as big an impact, if not more, than physical trauma.
Physical Trauma
Physical trauma is any type of threat of harm to your physical safety and well-being. For example, physical trauma can result from a severe car accident or our home being caught on a raging fire. It can be a devastating hurricane, earthquake, or other natural catastrophe that threatens your body and physical safety. Furthermore, witnessing physical danger like accidents, combat, or violence happening to someone else can lead to deeply distressing and traumatic experiences.
Also, physical trauma can occur when your physical needs are not being met regularly. For example, if your family couldn't afford groceries, clothes, or other necessities, these childhood experiences would also be considered traumatic. In addition, these experiences are more easily identified because they are globally recognized as trauma. The lack of consistent access to food, shelter, or clothing not only exposes our physical health but also fosters a pervasive sense of insecurity and fear.
The visible nature of physical trauma often makes it more straightforward to understand and address, but it still requires careful, compassionate intervention to process the experience and heal.
Attachment Trauma
Attachment trauma is often more challenging to identify. Attachment trauma is related to whether or not a child's emotional needs are being met. This can be hard to spot because people often don't discuss their emotional needs. As a result, not meeting these needs may not be seen as a form of trauma for many. Take masculinity norms and stereotypes, for example. Men in Western cultures are expected to be independent and strong. As they grow, men can form beliefs that being vulnerable and discussing their feelings and needs is a sign of weakness and powerlessness. So, for many people, thinking about their unmet emotional needs as a trauma is not typically at the forefront of their minds.
Understanding Emotional Needs
Attachment trauma is more along the lines of not having our emotional needs met in early childhood. Our emotional needs are about our experience of being seen, heard, valued, and validated in our early relationships. Humans are naturally wired to seek connection, safety, and affection, especially during childhood. Beyond basic needs like food and shelter, children need secure attachments, love, and autonomy to thrive. The quality of relationships formed with caregivers during childhood significantly influences our development and well-being throughout life. Meeting our emotional needs means we are treated with love and and care. It means that our emotions are tended to lovingly and compassionately. Unmet emotional needs can lead to insecure attachment, causing problems with self-esteem, setting boundaries, intimacy, and communication in adult life.
There are a lot of things that can cause attachment wounding. Even in the most well-intentioned family, we can experience attachment trauma if the parents are not adept at their own emotional regulation and, therefore, they have no tolerance for their children's emotional regulation, failing to meet their emotional needs.
Furthermore, some parents may not be able to meet their children's demands while dealing with their own grief. Sometimes, a tragedy occurs in the family, or the parents suffer a tragic loss of some kind. They may be so completely involved in grief that they are unable to attend to their children's needs.
Also, if a family struggles with job loss, poverty, emigration, or limited resources of any kind, then the parents are preoccupied with meeting the basic physical needs of the child while lacking the capacity or failing to attend to a child's emotional needs.
When Physical and Attachment Trauma Intersect: The Impact of Childhood Abuse
Growing up with an abusive parent can cause both physical and attachment trauma. Every experience that causes a child to feel threatened or frightened can be considered trauma, whether it is physical, emotional, sexual abuse, or domestic violence. The dual impact of this abuse is profound, as the child not only endures immediate physical harm but also suffers from the deep emotional wounds caused by the lack of a loving, secure relationship that meets their emotional needs and the betrayal of trust.
Children who have experienced abuse frequently pick up a deep sense of shame, believing that they are fundamentally undeserving of love and care. When the people who were meant to protect and nurture the child cause hurt and pain, these children will likely struggle with emotions of inadequacy and self-blame, believing that they somehow deserved the abuse they experienced.
The trauma can cause deep-seated fears related to your body and physical experiences. Your body, once a source of pain and shame, might have become something to hide or punish. So, you may feel disconnected from your own body or struggle with sexual intimacy. Abuse can create a deep fear of closeness. You may find it hard to trust others, fearing betrayal or abandonment. You may avoid intimacy altogether or, conversely, desperately seek validation from others while still feeling disconnected.
Interested in How Trauma Therapy Orlando Helps?
Understanding the profound impact of physical and attachment trauma is the first step toward recovery. Trauma Therapy at Mindful Living Counseling is a secure place to heal unresolved childhood wounds and break negative patterns. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you reclaim your sense of self, rebuild trust in others, and ultimately find peace and grow.
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If anything in this blog resonated with you know that support is available when you’re ready. If you're interested in learning more please review the articles below.
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Understanding the Window of Tolerance
Types of Counseling: Trauma Counseling
An Anxiety Therapist Shares Everything You Need to Know About Anxiety
5 Signs You’re Healing from Trauma
Other Therapy Services Offered at Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando
We provide a wide range of therapy services, including Couples Therapy Orlando, Toxic Relationship Therapy Orlando, Anxiety Therapy Orlando, EMDR Therapy, and Teen Therapy, as well as Guided Meditations. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us.
About Orlando Therapist: Lauran Hahn
Lauran Hahn works as a therapist in Orlando, specializing in EMDR Intensives to assist clients dealing with anxiety, trauma, and recovering from toxic relationships. In addition to being a Certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapist and a Certified EMDR Therapist, Lauran is also an EMDRIA Approved Consultant. Lauran's objective is to help her clients achieve a sense of calm within their bodies, find peace in their minds, and establish meaningful connections in their relationships.