~ Interpersonal Trauma ~
Interpersonal trauma is an umbrella term referring to abuse that is perpetrated from one or more persons and directly targeting another person or persons. This includes childhood abuse, and what is now referred to as childhood maltreatment, and abuse in adulthood that includes sexual abuse including rape and molestation, emotional abuse, extreme physical neglect, verbal abuse, physical violence and domestic violence, financial abuse, and/or assault.
Interpersonal trauma, whether perpetrated on children or adults, has a very specific and generally more deleterious emotional aftermath then does other types of trauma, including intergenerational, collective, historical, and man-made traumas, the later including trauma incurred from events such as a motor vehicle accident, hurricane, tornado, war and military trauma, and being displaced from one's homeland and what is now referred to as refugee trauma.
With victims of childhood abuse, and depending upon the age and developmental stage of the child, level of resilience, environment and systems of support, type of abuse, extent and duration of the abuse, will, all things equal, produce a more devastating effect, emotionally, physically, neurologically and developmentally, socially, and intra-personally (pertaining to intimate relationships). Interpersonal trauma involves aspects of or full-on betrayal, an important and unique factor that separates this type of trauma from the others. This is certainly not to say that other types of trauma are not by any means inconsequential or devastating. Trauma in and of itself is defined by its seriousness and devastation in multiple areas of a persons life. Unfortunately, trauma endured in childhood can alter a persons emotional development and produce lasting change at a neurological and biochemical level. Said another way, childhood trauma, specifically sexual trauma, can and often does change a persons brain in substantive ways, which can and does change how that child will see and relate to the world around him or her.
We know that interpersonal trauma has an impact at the intellectual level. We find that victims of interpersonal abuse may have depressed scores on tests of intelligence and in areas pertaining to memory and executive functioning (decision-making, judgement, impulsivity, the ability to regulate emotional arousal, mental flexibility (thinking on one's feet), problem solving, planning and prioritizing, task completion, and organizational skills).
At the emotional level, interpersonal trauma can have an egregious and lasting effect in areas of attachment and intimacy. Trust is often at the heart of interpersonal trauma. Our DNA is equipped with the preference for attachment. Contrary to John Locke's tabula rasa, the notion that we are all born as a blank slate, in that environment will determine who we become, humans (and many higher-level animals including the often maligned prairie vole), are pre-wired with the ability to attach to others, a trait that is either nurtured or reduced by our early caregivers. Even the most trusting among us can quite easily lose that trust as a result of interpersonal trauma. The closer the person is to us, the more attached we become. Unfortunately, when interpersonal abuse is perpetrated by those with whom we have the most trust in or the expectation of trust, the emotional damage is the most significant. While childhood sexual abuse for example, is always horrific even for the most resilient child, incest has an even greater impact. Even as early as a toddler, when those that are supposed to protect us instead abuse us, we experience an especially damaging emotion that hits at the heart of attachment and intimacy; betrayal.
Whether sustained in childhood or adulthood, the feeling of having been betrayed is a singularly disturbing and distressing emotion. Some may refer to this as a particular subset called betrayal trauma. Betrayal is a uniquely human emotion that carries a unique set of consequences and if left to fester on its own, effects the ability to trust, form close attachments, or enjoy an intimate relationship.
Interpersonal trauma, whether perpetrated on children or adults, has a very specific and generally more deleterious emotional aftermath then does other types of trauma, including intergenerational, collective, historical, and man-made traumas, the later including trauma incurred from events such as a motor vehicle accident, hurricane, tornado, war and military trauma, and being displaced from one's homeland and what is now referred to as refugee trauma.
With victims of childhood abuse, and depending upon the age and developmental stage of the child, level of resilience, environment and systems of support, type of abuse, extent and duration of the abuse, will, all things equal, produce a more devastating effect, emotionally, physically, neurologically and developmentally, socially, and intra-personally (pertaining to intimate relationships). Interpersonal trauma involves aspects of or full-on betrayal, an important and unique factor that separates this type of trauma from the others. This is certainly not to say that other types of trauma are not by any means inconsequential or devastating. Trauma in and of itself is defined by its seriousness and devastation in multiple areas of a persons life. Unfortunately, trauma endured in childhood can alter a persons emotional development and produce lasting change at a neurological and biochemical level. Said another way, childhood trauma, specifically sexual trauma, can and often does change a persons brain in substantive ways, which can and does change how that child will see and relate to the world around him or her.
We know that interpersonal trauma has an impact at the intellectual level. We find that victims of interpersonal abuse may have depressed scores on tests of intelligence and in areas pertaining to memory and executive functioning (decision-making, judgement, impulsivity, the ability to regulate emotional arousal, mental flexibility (thinking on one's feet), problem solving, planning and prioritizing, task completion, and organizational skills).
At the emotional level, interpersonal trauma can have an egregious and lasting effect in areas of attachment and intimacy. Trust is often at the heart of interpersonal trauma. Our DNA is equipped with the preference for attachment. Contrary to John Locke's tabula rasa, the notion that we are all born as a blank slate, in that environment will determine who we become, humans (and many higher-level animals including the often maligned prairie vole), are pre-wired with the ability to attach to others, a trait that is either nurtured or reduced by our early caregivers. Even the most trusting among us can quite easily lose that trust as a result of interpersonal trauma. The closer the person is to us, the more attached we become. Unfortunately, when interpersonal abuse is perpetrated by those with whom we have the most trust in or the expectation of trust, the emotional damage is the most significant. While childhood sexual abuse for example, is always horrific even for the most resilient child, incest has an even greater impact. Even as early as a toddler, when those that are supposed to protect us instead abuse us, we experience an especially damaging emotion that hits at the heart of attachment and intimacy; betrayal.
Whether sustained in childhood or adulthood, the feeling of having been betrayed is a singularly disturbing and distressing emotion. Some may refer to this as a particular subset called betrayal trauma. Betrayal is a uniquely human emotion that carries a unique set of consequences and if left to fester on its own, effects the ability to trust, form close attachments, or enjoy an intimate relationship.