About Trauma

Victimization

Victimization occurs when a person intentionally harms or threatens to harm someone else physically, mentally, or financially. Victimizers often choose and single out their victims based on real or perceived imbalance of power between the victimizer and the victim.

Experiencing imbalance

When a person experiences a sudden, arbitrary, or unpredictable act of violence, they can feel shock and disbelief. Experiencing first-hand the malicious actions of another can create a crisis because the victim’s sense of security, control and trust are violated. This can result in a wide range of effects that cause imbalance. Trauma is the lasting emotional response that can occur when a person is victimized.

Every person reacts to trauma differently and can experience physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. These may last for a short period or for a much longer period. Being victimized can also trigger previous traumas that make the immediate experience more intense and contribute to long-term effects. Common symptoms of trauma can include any combination of the following:

PHYSICAL

  • Changes in appetite

  • Changes in sex drive

  • Changes in sleeping pattern

  • Chills or sweating

  • Digestive upset

  • Dizziness

  • Easily startled

  • Eating disorders

  • Heart palpitations or chest pains

  • High blood pressure

  • Headaches

  • Loss of coordination

  • Loss of energy

  • Nausea

  • Pain

  • Restlessness

  • Self-harm or suicidal tendencies

  • Shock

  • Sleep disturbances

  • Substance abuse

  • Tendency to make more errors

  • Tendency toward slower speech or movement

  • Tremors

EMOTIONAL

  • Anger

  • Anxiety

  • Despair

  • Denial

  • Depression & sadness

  • Disbelief

  • Distrust

  • Emptied of feelings and emotions

  • Fear of being revictimized

  • Feeling lost, abandoned or isolated

  • Grief

  • Guilt

  • Helplessness

  • Hopelessness

  • Hypervigilance

  • Loss of motivation

  • Low self-esteem

  • Mistrust

  • Numbness

  • Pessimistic attitude toward life, community or society

  • Rationalization of the experience

  • Regression to childlike behavior

  • Self-blame

MENTAL

  • Confusion

  • Dependent on others to make decisions

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Difficulty making decisions

  • Disassociation

  • Disorientation

  • Flashbacks or intrusive memories

  • Irritability

  • Memory difficulties

  • Nightmares

  • Repressed memories of what happened

  • Slowed thinking

The advocate’s role

Victim advocates ensure that victims receive the services and support they need. Advocates can be found in District Attorney offices, victim assistance programs in law enforcement agencies, shelters, hotlines, counseling services, tribal court programs, social services, health organizations, non-profit service agencies, and victim compensation programs, to name a few. Victim advocacy is extremely important to help victims recover and ensure that the criminal justice system responds, investigates, and prevents crime. Even if you have experienced abuse or harm that you think does not rise to the level of being a crime, victim advocates can still offer support and resources.

Advocates are essential. They assist victims during all phases of the trauma process: crisis, short-term, and long-term. Advocates may act as crisis interventionists who provide immediate “psychological first aid” by rapidly responding to a victim in crisis. Crisis interventionists provide calm, confident, compassionate help to the victim as they struggle to understand and cope with their immediate crisis (1).

(1) Victim Advocacy Manual, The Center for Legal Studies, pp 41-42.

Responding to trauma

Crisis intervention

Being a victim of crime or abuse can cause a crisis in a victim’s life. Webster’s Dictionary defines a crisis is an emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a person’s life. The crisis may be the result of a single major event or an accumulation of smaller stresses that stretch a person beyond their capacity to cope. 

The most effective time to help a victim find constructive resolutions is during a crisis. Therefore, a person in crisis should receive assistance quickly, since delay could cause the victim to become self-destructive or internalize the crisis, leading to long-term difficulties.

During a crisis situation, the advocate can help the victim do a few small actions right away that are constructive and healthy to regain their sense of personal control. This might take the form of making little decisions or encouraging self-reliance (2).

Although the NCTCC App is designed primarily for short-term response, during crisis intervention the Resources section can help you locate services that may be helpful to your client.

(2) Victim Advocacy Manual, pp 91-94.

Short term trauma

Trauma has no timeline. The effects of trauma can be resolved over a relatively short time, or last for a long period and require professional help. Short term trauma is trauma that occurs as a result of a crisis and lasts past the crisis stage. Exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, and confusion are some of the initial reactions to trauma.

Advocates may attempt to contact or meet with the victim to talk about problems or feelings, assist with mapping out an action plan to meet their needs, and help the victim obtain assistance, such as victim compensation, mental health counseling, interim financial assistance, property repairs, and information on victim rights, the criminal justice system, and personal security (3). 

The App is particularly well-situated to provide short-term trauma support. It contains tools and information that an advocate can use with a client to provide short term trauma response.

(3) Victim Advocacy Manual, pp 94-96.

Long term trauma

Persistent emotional trauma often requires professional help when it is severe, complex, and prolonged. Advocates can refer victims to appropriate mental health services, group sessions, counseling involving friends and family, and cultural healing and wellness services (4).

The App’s Resources can be useful to advocates seeking appropriate referrals for their clients.

(4) Victim Advocacy Manual, pp 96-97.

Historic trauma

Historic trauma refers to trauma that occurs over time and multiple generations by a group of people who share an identity or affiliation. When oppression, victimization, destruction of a part of the group, or other traumas continue to affect the descendants of the victim group this is historic trauma. Historic trauma is imbalance that has never been made right. For victims who have experienced historic trauma, new traumas may be more intense, complex, or take longer to address since new events may trigger the pre-existing wounds from historic trauma.

Alternative or traditional approaches to healing may be useful for a victim who has experienced historic trauma. The Wellness or Resources section of this App may be useful if you or someone you are helping seeks alternative ways to cope with historic trauma (5).

(5) Mohatt, et al.; Historical trauma as public narrative: A conceptual review of how history impacts present day health. Soc Sci Med. 2014 Apr.

Intergenerational trauma

Intergenerational trauma is different than historic trauma, but like historic trauma, intergenerational trauma can make recovery more complex. Trauma is intergenerational when traumatic experiences are transferred between family generations. Intergenerational trauma can be transmitted by learned behavior, genetics, or both.

Learned transmission occurs when children learn harmful habits or practices from parents or do not have the opportunity to learn healthily ways of coping from their parent. Genetic transmission occurs when trauma causes permanent alterations in a victim’s genetic information, and then the victim produces offspring, who inherits the victim’s altered genetics. The child may be born with increased sensitivity to negative stress and abuse. Alternative therapies can help those experiencing intergenerational trauma reshape family relationships and learn positive ways of coping with the trauma (6).

Refer to the Wellness and Resources sections of the App to find traditional and alternative resources for victims.

(6) Mohatt, et al., Boone, N., What is generational trauma and how can we heal from it? Ensemble Therapy.

Trauma-informed services

For advocates

A trauma informed approach to victim services begins with understanding how trauma has impacted the physical, social and emotional wellbeing of the victim, their family, their service provider, and anyone else in the victim’s circle of support. Trauma informed service can produce better results for victims when it takes into account the widespread impacts of the victimization, avoids retraumatization, encourages the victim to make their own choices, and prioritizes the victim’s safety and potential paths for healing. Professional training in trauma and trauma-informed care is important for victim service providers. You can learn more about trauma-informed care at the Office of Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance webpage .

When an advocate works with Native people who have been victimized, the advocate must have an understanding of the historic trauma that has affected the tribal community. To provide trauma-informed services for Native people, consideration must be given to the historic and intergenerational trauma that the person’s tribe and ancestors have experienced.

Trauma informed services may be delivered through comprehensive or coordinated service programs that working together to support a wide range of potential needs that a victim may have.

For victims

Trauma informed services are important for victims. Rather than asking “what is wrong with you?” a trauma informed service provider focuses on “What happened to you?” This helps the service provider provide appropriate assistance because they can see the big picture of your life. By comprehending the ways in which trauma impact you, an advocate or other service provider can help and support your choices for recovery and avoid inadvertently re-traumatizing you. The goal of trauma-informed care emphasizes creating a safe space for you to rebuild your sense of control and empowerment.

If trauma-informed services are not available to you, learning about your tribal and family history can heal and empower you. Each tribal community and each family has its own story to tell. You can also seek out a group for survivors. If you feel safe telling your story to the group, this can help you confront, understand, and release your traumatic experience.

More resources

The Weaving Wellness Collection has been made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Sustaining Humanities through the American Rescue Plan in partnership with the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums or the National Endowment for the Humanities.