Glossary

This glossary is designed to serve as a comprehensive guide to key concepts, terms, and theories related to collective trauma, trauma healing and collective trauma integration. Each entry in this glossary provides a clear definition of the term and references to key scientific publications. Our intention is to offer precise language and concepts to facilitates a deeper understanding and more effective communication within the field.

Adaptive Capacity

The ability of individuals or groups to adjust to situations also in the context of trauma and recover.

Adaptive Strategies

Methods used by individuals and groups to cope with and adapt to traumatic experiences.

Affective Synchrony

Alignment of emotional states with another person or within a group, fostering collective empathy.

Anticipatory Grief

Grief is experienced in anticipation of future loss or trauma. Therefore it is called Anticipatory Grief.

Archetypal Trauma

Trauma that is deeply rooted in collective archetypes and myths.

Attachment Trauma

Trauma resulting from disruptions in early attachment relationships.

Attunement

A harmonious responsiveness between individuals, crucial for healthy development and trauma recovery.

Autonomic Regulation

The process of regulating the autonomic nervous system, often disrupted by trauma.

Behavioural Activation

Techniques to increase engagement in positive activities to combat trauma symptoms.

Bio-Psycho-Social Model

An approach that integrates biological, psychological, and social factors in understanding trauma.

Biopsychosocial Spiritual Model

An integrated approach considering biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of trauma.

Body Memory

Physical manifestations of memories stored in the body.

Boundary Setting

Establishing and maintaining personal limits (boundaries) to protect against retraumatization.

Cognitive Reframing

Changing the way one thinks about a traumatic event to alter its emotional impact.

Collective Effervescence

The shared emotional energy experienced by a group, often during rituals or communal events.

Collective Grief

The shared experience of grief within a community following a traumatic event.

Collective Despair

Collective despair occurs when a group loses faith in and hope for some or all aspects of their social world and feel powerless to do anything about it.

Collective Memory

The shared pool of memories held by a group, influencing their identity and trauma response.

Collective Resilience

This is the ability of a community to recover and thrive after trauma.

Collective Unconscious

A concept by Carl Jung that refers to shared structures of the unconscious mind among beings of the same species.

Community Healing Circles

Gatherings focused on collective storytelling and mutual support for trauma healing.

Community Resilience Building

Efforts to strengthen a community’s ability to withstand and recover from trauma.

Compassion Fatigue

Emotional exhaustion experienced by people working in care, particularly those who help trauma survivors.

Complex Trauma

Exposure to multiple traumatic events, often of an invasive, interpersonal nature.

Coherence

A state of logical and consistent alignment in thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This is important in trauma recovery.

Coherent Heterogeneity

It is about acknowledging the differences within boundaries that ensure coherence. It is about embracing as much diversity as possible without fragmenting or becoming incoherent.

Cultural Humility

A respectful approach that acknowledges and values cultural differences in trauma responses and healing.

Cultural Memory

The shared pool of memories and history held by a cultural group, shaping their collective identity.

Cultural Resilience

The ability of a cultural group to recover and thrive despite trauma.

Cultural Retraumatization

Re-experiencing trauma due to cultural insensitivity or oppression.

Cultural Safety

Creating an environment where individuals feel safe to express their cultural identities during trauma recovery.

Cultural Shadow

The aspects of a culture that are hidden or repressed, often containing traumatic elements.

Cultural Trauma

A type of collective trauma that affects the foundational identity and memory of a cultural group.

Dark Lake

A metaphor used to describe the deep and often hidden aspects of collective trauma.

Dehumanization

The process of depriving individuals or groups of their humanity. This is often a factor in collective trauma.

Desensitization

A gradual reduction in emotional response to trauma through repeated exposure.

Dialogical Process

Engaging in open dialogue to process and integrate traumatic experiences.

Dissociative Identity Disorder

A severe form of dissociation often resulting from extreme trauma.

Eco-Trauma

Trauma-related to environmental destruction and ecological crises.

Ecology of Paradigms

The co-existence of different sientific paradigms within a broad ecology of practise.

Embodied Awareness

The practice of becoming deeply aware of bodily sensations and experiences as a way to process and heal trauma.

Emotional Contagion

The spread of emotions within a group. This often amplifies collective trauma.

Emotional Dysregulation

Refers to difficulty in managing and responding to emotional experiences.

Emotional Regulation

Techniques to manage and control emotional responses to trauma.

Empathic Distress

Stress resulting from empathetic engagement with others’ trauma.

Empowerment-Based Approaches

Methods that focus on increasing individuals’ and communities’ sense of control and agency in the aftermath of trauma.

Energetic Coherence

A state where the energy fields of individuals and groups are harmonized, often contributing to collective healing.

Epigenetic Trauma

The idea that trauma can affect gene expression and be passed down to future generations through epigenetic changes.

Existential Trauma

Trauma that challenges one’s fundamental beliefs and meaning in life.

Expressive Arts Therapy

Using creative arts to process and express traumatic experiences.

Family Systems Theory

An approach that views individual trauma within the context of family dynamics.

Forensic Memory

The use of memories in legal contexts, also related to collective trauma.

Fragmentation

The breaking apart of memories, emotions, or identity due to trauma.

Genocidal Trauma

Trauma resulting from genocide. This affects survivors and future generations.

Global Social Witnessing

The practice of being present and bearing witness to global events and traumas in a compassionate and engaged manner.

Group Constellations

A therapeutic method that explores the dynamics within a group or family system to uncover and address collective traumas.

Group Dynamics

These are interactions and psychological processes within a group.

Healing Collective Trauma

Efforts and practices aimed at addressing and healing the wounds caused by collective traumatic experiences.

Healing Communities

Groups or networks focused on collective trauma recovery.

Healing Justice

A framework that integrates social justice and healing practices for trauma recovery.

Healing Rituals

Ceremonial practices that communities use to process and integrate traumatic experiences, often involving collective participation.

Historical Amnesia Narrative

A Historic Amnesia Narrative involves the deliberate or unconscious forgetting and distortion of significant historical events in collective memory. This often leads to an incomplete or biased understanding of history, particularly in relation to traumatic or controversial events.

Historical Trauma

The cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the lifespan and across generations, resulting from massive group trauma experiences.

Holistic Healing

Approaches that consider the whole person—body, mind, and spirit—in trauma recovery.

Hope Theory

A psychological framework emphasizing the role of hope in trauma recovery.

Human Rights Violations

Acts that cause trauma through the infringement of fundamental rights.

Humanitarian Response

Efforts to provide aid and support to trauma-affected populations.

Identity Reconstruction

This is about rebuilding a sense of identity after a traumatic disruption.

Implicit Memory

Unconscious memories that influence behaviors and emotions, often formed during traumatic experiences.

Inner Science

The study and practice of inner awareness and consciousness, particularly in relation to trauma healing.

Intersubjectivity

The shared understanding and mutual influence of subjective experiences within a group.

Intra-action

Intra-action understands agency as not an inherent property of an individual or human to be exercised but as a dynamism of forces in which all designated ‘things’ are constantly exchanging and diffracting, influencing and working inseparably.

Intergenerational Healing

Healing practices that address trauma across multiple generations.

Intergenerational Transmission

The passing of trauma and its effects from one generation to the next.

Intrusive Thoughts

Unwanted and distressing thoughts related to trauma.

Liminal Space

The transitional phase between trauma and healing, often characterized by uncertainty and transformation.

Memory Erasure

This is the intentional or unintentional forgetting of traumatic events.

Memory Reconsolidation

A process by which existing memories are recalled and then stored again, potentially in a modified form, which can be used therapeutically to alter traumatic memories.

Meaning Making

The process of constructing meaning in life, particularly when it has been disrupted by collective trauma.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Often implemented as a therapeutic approach that uses mindfulness to help individuals cope with trauma.

Moral Injury

Damage to one’s sense of morality and ethics due to involvement in or witnessing of traumatic events.

Multisystemic Therapy

An intensive family- and community-based treatment for trauma-related issues.

Narrative Disruption

The breaking of personal or collective narratives due to trauma.

Narrative Exposure Therapy

This therapeutic approach focuses on helping individuals make sense of their trauma by guiding them through the process of constructing a clear and organized narrative of their past experiences.

Narrative Healing

The use of storytelling and narratives to process and integrate traumatic experiences.

Neurofeedback

A technique that uses real-time monitoring of brain activity to help individuals self-regulate and heal from trauma.

Neuroplasticity

The brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. This is important in trauma recovery.

Participatory Action Research of Collective Trauma

Research involving community members in studying and addressing collective trauma.

Patriarchal Trauma

Trauma resulting from patriarchal systems and gender-based oppression.

Peritraumatic Experience

The experience of trauma as it occurs, which can influence later trauma responses.

Phenomenology

The study of conscious experiences, important for understanding individual and collective trauma.

Polyvagal Theory

A theory explaining how the autonomic nervous system mediates the relationship between emotions and social behavior, particularly in trauma.

Positive Psychology

A field of psychology focusing on strengths and resilience in the context of trauma recovery. This is the transitional phase between trauma and healing, often characterized by uncertainty and transformation.

Post-Memory

The relationship that the generations after those who witnessed cultural or collective trauma have to the experiences of their forebears.

Post-Traumatic Growth

Positive psychological changes that can occur as a result of struggling with highly challenging life circumstances.

Psychoeducation

Providing information about trauma and its effects to help individuals and communities understand and cope.

Psychodrama

A therapeutic approach that uses guided drama and role-playing to work through trauma.

Psychological First Aid

Immediate support is provided to trauma survivors to stabilize them emotionally and psychologically.

Reciprocal Altruism

Helping others with the expectation that they will help in return, promoting collective resilience.

Reconciliation

The process of restoring relationships and community cohesion after trauma.

Relational Field

The dynamic interactions and relationships within a group or community, important in collective trauma.

Reparative Justice

Efforts to repair the harm caused by trauma through compensation, acknowledgment, and reform.

Resilience Building

Efforts to increase the capacity of individuals and communities to withstand and recover from trauma.

Resilience Narrative

Narratives that grow resilience for individuals, groups, and collectives to integrate and deal with trauma.

Resilient Identity

A sense of self that remains strong and adaptive despite trauma.

Resonance

A deep, empathic connection with others’ experiences, fostering collective understanding and healing.

Restorative Practices

Approaches that seek to repair harm and restore relationships within a community affected by trauma.

Rituals of Remembrance

Ceremonies that honor and remember traumatic events, promoting collective healing.

Rupture and Repair

The process of experiencing and then healing breaches in relationships or social bonds caused by misattunement.

Sacred Witnessing

The practice of bearing witness to others’ trauma in a sacred, respectful manner.

Secondary Traumatization

Trauma which is experienced by those who are exposed to the trauma of others.

Self-Compassion

Treating oneself with kindness and understanding in the face of trauma.

Sensory Processing

The way sensory information is interpreted, which can be altered by trauma.

Sense & Meaning Making

The process of understanding and deriving meaning, important after traumatic experiences.

Shadow Work

The process of exploring and integrating repressed aspects of the self, often related to trauma.

Shared Reality

The collective perception and understanding of events within a community.

Social Capital

The networks and relationships that provide support and resources in trauma recovery.

Social Ecology

The study of how individuals interact with their social environments.

Social Fragmentation

The breakdown of social bonds and community cohesion, also due to trauma.

Social Healing

Efforts to heal social relationships and structures affected by trauma.

Social Field

The social field is a distinct entity and a powerful leverage point for effecting systems change.

Social Synchronization

The alignment of behaviors, emotions, and actions within a group, facilitating collective coordination as well as resilience.

Sociocultural Integration

The process of incorporating diverse cultural experiences and perspectives into a cohesive community.

Somatic Experiencing

A therapeutic approach that focuses on bodily sensations to process and release trauma.

Somatic Healing

Healing practices that involve the body and physical sensations to address trauma.

Spiritual Bypassing

Using spiritual beliefs or practices to avoid addressing psychological trauma.

Spiritual Trauma

Trauma that affects an individual’s spiritual beliefs and practices.

Structural Racism

Systemic discrimination that contributes to collective trauma among marginalized groups.

Structural Violence

Social structures that harm individuals by preventing them from meeting their basic needs.

Survivor Advocacy

Efforts to support and empower trauma survivors in seeking justice and healing.

Survivor-Led Initiatives

Programs and movements led by trauma survivors to promote healing and resilience.

Survivor's Guilt

Feelings of guilt experienced by those who have survived a traumatic event that others did not.

Systemic Healing

Approaches that address trauma at individual, community, and institutional levels.

Systemic Oppression

Widespread discrimination and inequality that contributes to collective trauma.

Systemic Trauma

Trauma that affects the entire structure of a community or society.

Terror Management Theory

A theory that explores how humans cope with the fear of death, often heightened by trauma.

Therapeutic Alliance

The collaborative relationship between a therapist and a client, crucial for effective trauma therapy.

Time Collapse

Time collapse is a phenomenon that occurs when ideas, perceptions, feelings, as well as defenses connected with a historic (or chosen) trauma, collapse into ideas, perceptions, feelings, and defenses connected with a current political or military conflict.

Time Expansion

Time expansion, its inverse, is the reversal of the time collapse phenomenon so that one can focus again on the issue at hand.

Trauma Activation

This refers to triggers that cause re-experiencing of trauma symptoms.

Trauma Bonding

Traumatic bonding is a strong emotional attachment between an abused person and his or her abuser.

Trauma Integration

The process of incorporating traumatic experiences into one’s overall life narrative in a healthy way.

Trauma Narration

The telling and retelling of traumatic experiences to process and make sense of them.

Trauma Response Network

Systems and support structures in place to respond to trauma within a community.

Trauma Stewardship

The practice of caring for oneself and others while engaging in trauma work.

Trauma Vortex

A cycle of recurring trauma symptoms that can trap individuals and communities.

Trauma-Informed Advocacy

Efforts to promote policies and practices that recognize and address the impacts of trauma.

Trauma-Informed Art

These are Creative expressions that acknowledge and process trauma.

Trauma-Informed Care

Approaches to care that recognize and address the effects of trauma on individuals.

Trauma-Informed Communities

Communities that incorporate trauma awareness into their practices and policies.

Trauma-Informed Conflict Resolution

Approaches to resolving conflicts that consider the impact of trauma.

Trauma-Informed Correctional Practices

Approaches within the correctional system that recognize the impact of trauma.

Trauma-Informed Design

Designing environments and services with an understanding of trauma’s effects.

Trauma-Informed Disaster Response

Emergency responses that consider the impact of trauma on affected populations.

Trauma-Informed Education

Educational practices that recognize and address the effects of trauma on students.

Trauma-Informed Governance

Policy-making and policy research that considers the impact of trauma on communities.

Trauma-Informed Immigration Policy

Immigration policies that acknowledge the trauma experienced by migrants.

Trauma-Informed Journalism

Reporting that is sensitive to the impact of trauma on survivors.

Trauma-Informed Leadership

Leadership practices that incorporate an understanding of trauma.

Trauma-Informed Meditation

Mindfulness practices adapted to be safe and effective for trauma survivors.

Trauma-Informed Outreach

Community outreach efforts that are mindful of trauma’s effects.

Trauma-Informed Parenting

Parenting approaches that consider the impact of trauma on children and families.

Trauma-Informed Policy

Policies that integrate an understanding of trauma into their framework.

Trauma-Informed Policy-Making

The process of creating policies with an awareness of trauma’s impact.

Trauma-Informed Social Work

Social work practices that recognize and address the effects of trauma.

Trauma-Informed Care Systems

Systems that incorporate an understanding of trauma into their operations and services.

Trauma-Informed Technology

The use of digital tools and platforms, designed with an understanding of trauma’s impact.

Trauma-Informed Urban Planning

Designing urban environments with consideration of trauma’s effects on residents.

Traumatic Grief

Intense grief reactions following a traumatic loss.

Trust Building

Efforts to restore trust within communities and between individuals after trauma.

Vicarious Trauma

Trauma experienced by those who are exposed to the trauma of others.

Witness Consciousness

The practice of observing and being present with one’s own and others’ trauma experiences.

Witness Trauma

Trauma experienced by those who witness traumatic events, even if not directly affected.

Witnessing

The capacity to be with and to witness events, people, places, and moments of time.