“Trauma is not what happens to you, but what happens inside you.” – Gabor Mate

Trauma and its Effects

The meaning of “trauma” has its origins in the Greek word for wound. It has been described[1] as being “an inner injury, a lasting rupture or slit within the self due to difficult or hurtful events.”

And according to the physician Gabor Mate, “whether we realize it or not, it is our woundedness, or how we cope with it, that dictates much of our behaviour, shapes our social habits, and informs our way of thinking about the world. It can even determine whether or not we are capable of rational thought in matters of the greatest importance in our lives. For many of us, it rears its head in our closest partnerships, causing all kinds of relational mischief.”

Most of us would say this is…