What Retraumatization Is and How to Heal From It
By: Dr. Denise Renye
We’re living in traumatic times, and by that, I mean we’re experiencing events that can overwhelm the nervous system and affect our ability to cope. These traumatic events, such as a wildfire, can be profoundly destabilizing, often triggering intense feelings of fear, helplessness, and grief. For many, the trauma of such an event may bring to the surface unresolved pain from earlier life experiences, creating a complex interplay of past and present distress.
This is because “Trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body," to quote Dr. Janina Fisher, a renowned trauma specialist and psychologist, who I’ve studied with. There’s an imprint, mark, or scar from trauma if it’s left untreated. It doesn’t just “go away” and when the brain connects current stressors to prior unresolved traumas, that’s called “retraumatization.”
Retraumatization amplifies emotional and physiological responses because the person isn’t only dealing with the trauma in front of them, they’re linking the experience to past traumas as well. For instance, a wildfire can feel like an invasion and may remind the person of other times their space was invaded – a parent barging in on them unannounced, an unwanted sexual advance, or something similar. The theme (invasion) is the same even if the content (i.e., a wildfire) is not.
When someone is retraumatized, they might find themselves reliving old patterns of hypervigilance, avoidance, emotional numbness, or addictive behaviors as their nervous system struggles to process the compounded stress. It can be a lot to hold and while it can be overwhelming, the maladaptive coping patterns may also signal that past wounds still need care and attention.
Remember that healing is not linear. It’s filled with twists and turns and rarely makes logical sense. The resurfacing of earlier trauma presents both a challenge and an opportunity for healing. A person may have already done some work on their past traumas but retraumatization presents an opportunity to approach it from a slightly different perspective. Carl Jung speaks to this when he says, “Psychologically you develop in a spiral; you always come over the same point where you have been before, but it is never exactly the same – it is either above or below.”
As a psychologist, I know that retraumatization can intensify symptoms of PTSD, making it harder to cope with daily life. Basic things like grocery shopping, making dinner, or working can feel tantamount to climbing Mt. Everest. But retraumatization also offers a unique chance to address those deeper, underlying wounds that may have gone unexamined for years. Sometimes a person doesn’t know they still have a wound until it metaphorically reopens. Or they may think they’re “over it,” when in fact they’re not.
Recognize that trauma is a somatic experience – it lives in the body and not the brain. That means intellectually a person may be “over” something but physically they are not. That’s why I have trained in somatic modalities such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). These somatic approaches to trauma can help individuals not only process the recent trauma but also untangle and integrate past experiences. By doing so, they can foster resilience, deepen self-understanding, and reclaim a sense of safety and empowerment in their lives.
Trauma doesn’t have to be something you “just live with.” It is possible to experience a different way of being. The path to healing is not always easy but it can lead to profound personal growth and a renewed sense of wholeness with patience and commitment.
If you’re in touch with your trauma and would like support with your healing, as a trauma-informed psychologist, I can do that. Reach out to me for an appointment.
Reference
Jung, C.G. (1984), Seminar on Dream Analysis. Princeton: Princeton University Press.