Written by: Nida Batool Syed, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Understanding Trauma and PTSD
Before we dive into how we transfer trauma, let's first get into what trauma is. Trauma happens when a deeply distressing or disturbing event overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, causing feelings of helplessness, diminishing their sense of self and their ability to feel a full range of emotions and experiences. People often think that trauma is a response to only a tragic event such as sudden death, accident, miscarriage, rape, war, etc.
What we need to understand is that every individual is unique which leads us to the following point, trauma is very subjective. Simply because an event that might not be tragic to you, could be experienced tragically by someone else. We are all unique, we all have our own perceptions and a unique way to deal with situations that happen around us and with us.
Trauma that is not healed, not processed, can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which is having disturbing, intense thoughts and feelings related to what they have experienced. People with PTSD start having nightmares and they relive the tragic event over and over again.
Understanding Unresolved Trauma
Unresolved trauma can be a bit tricky, as people often think they must have moved on from an event or experience they've had and believe that it's not having any impact on them anymore as it was something from the past. Just because it's in the past does not mean it does not hurt anymore. You have convinced yourself consciously that you have moved on, but subconsciously the event is still there unprocessed and unhealed. This can result in extraordinary stress, which can create a lot of problems. Especially if a similar event takes place or something related to the specific event happens, you will be triggered and this cycle will keep on repeating until you have healed from it. Simply because an "unresolved trauma" impacts your current experiences, symptoms, and relationships. This can bring a lot of complications in someone's life causing trust issues, lack of confidence but will also lead to a person preferring to be isolated than being around people.
Now that you understand trauma, can you imagine what someone would be going through mentally and emotionally? And how that could be having an impact on their health? Did you even know that majority who have been experiencing unresolved trauma don't even realize that they are suffering from the event, they might have even forgotten about it or have convinced themselves that they couldn't care less about it? As mentioned before, unresolved trauma is tricky but by analyzing where the triggers are coming from, you can find the root cause. You do need help and guidance with this though. Feel free to contact me, I have been working with lots of individuals who were suffering because of unresolved trauma and by doing sessions with them, I helped them accept, process and transform the pain into a life experience.
Transform it or it will transfer
Now let's talk about how trauma can be transferred also known as intergenerational trauma. We believe life goes on and the children of someone who might experience a traumatic event or their grandchildren would not experience the trauma symptoms as life goes on. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. Trauma can affect your future generations if it remains unprocessed. For example, a study has been done on 100 holocaust survivors. In which researchers noticed that their children were more likely to get PTSD, even though they didn't experience similar traumatic events as the Holocaust survivors did. What these children did get is the stories of the horrific experience their parents had and hearing about the traumatic experience of their parents were in fact, traumatizing for these children. But that's not the only way of transferring the trauma, it can also be inherited biologically, as it gets passed on through our genes.
So now you might be thinking but what is the evidence? Well, the evidence that trauma can be passed on biologically is limited. What we do know now, is from a study that was done in 2015 in which researchers did some genetics tests on 32 holocaust survivors and 22 of their children. During this research, they were looking at the Methylation of genes. If a gene has a lot of Methyl groups attached to it can create problems with copying that gene or keep it from doing what it is supposed to do. Studying Methylation is a part of epigenetics, and epigenetics is the study that explains what can be inherited from parent to child biologically outside of the actual letters of your DNA.
Methylation levels can change based upon your environment. So basically, things that happen in your life can be passed down in this way. So what the researchers found out in 2015 is that both the groups of the holocaust and their children had a higher level of methylation in a gene related to the stress response. Research is still going on to find out more evidence.
So if your family member has been through a traumatic experience that you have heard about it in detail or not, whether you want to believe it or not. If you have noticed some symptoms such as becoming angry, numb, restless, lack of trust in others, having nightmares, fear, or if you are experiencing any strong negative emotion. Remember symptoms could be different for every person but if you don't know where it's coming from, it could be unresolved trauma or intergenerational trauma, either way, you need to seek professional help.
At Luminous Transformational Coaching practice, I work with my clients on their past and present to build a better future. You cannot heal from trauma on a conscious level, you need to work on your subconscious mind as well, you have to accept, process, and transform the pain of the experience that you have been through. Professional help for trauma is very important as you have just read. Trauma is not something that you can take lightly. Free yourself and future generations from the vicious cycle!
Nida Batool Syed , Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Nida Syed is the founder and CEO of Luminous Transformational Coaching practice and a senior member of the Accredited Counsellors, Coaches, Psychotherapists and Hypnotherapists Register (ACCPH), a member of The British Association of Therapeutic Hypnotists & NLP Practitioners (BAThH), and complies with their strict code of ethics. Nida Syed is also a registered member of the Complementary Medical Association (CMA), which is internationally recognized as the elite force in professional, ethical complementary medicine by professional practitioners, doctors, and increasingly, by the general public. She is evaluated and approved by the International Practitioner of Holistic Medicine (IPHM) as an Executive member as well. This accreditation is a guarantee of quality and expertise.
She currently lives and is based in Manchester since 2019 and does virtual sessions with clients from all over the world. A face-to-face session is possible if that is something a client really wants. She works together with Brighter Space and has a therapy room located in Wilmslow, Greater Manchester.
Before moving to the UK, Nida used to live in the Netherlands where she chose to do a BA in Applied Psychology because she has always been interested in the workings of the mind and human behaviour. She has worked for years in the HR department for health care institutions while studying, and she also has medical knowledge from completing the medical assistant course in Amsterdam.
After settling in the UK Nida wanted to do things differently and stop working in the regular health care system where she felt limited. Believing that each person is unique and that someone cannot be truly helped and healed by following a specific protocol or putting a label on them, she opted for a guiding role and completed a practitioner's course to become a coach. During this course, she felt like a whole new world opened up to her and decided to further expand her skills and knowledge with mastery in NLP and Hypnotherapy.
The reason for Nida to choose this path is because she believes that psychology goes hand in hand with a holistic approach. That's why in her practice, she makes sure that she is not only listening to the client but also adapts to their needs during each session, to build an authentic relationship with each client. She uses her background in the medical field, mental health, and spirituality to help clients master their mindset, grow in confidence, overcome their fears, unlock their fullest potential and discover a better version of themselves.
Nida feels most fulfilled when she helps people find their inner light after going through a transformation. She feels honored to contribute to other people's growth, supporting them in their mental health and guiding them into accepting themselves.
Nida was also born with spiritual gifts such as energy healing, which she utilizes as a Reiki Master and is a qualified Reiki teacher as well. Through Reiki healing, she helps clients release energy blockages that cause delays and obstacles in their life.
