The concept of being trauma informed is a relatively recent development in therapy, and a very important and valuable one. I believe, though, that the term trauma informed isn’t itself that helpful. Because all therapy, from its very origins, has been about dealing with past adversity, or adverse experience, that has had a lasting impact on the person. That’s really what therapy is, and always has been.

So the idea that some therapists are not trauma informed, whereas some are, feels slightly bizarre. It’s like saying: this doctor is not disease informed, whereas that doctor is disease informed.

All therapy is about trauma – if we’re using the term trauma to mean the lasting impact of prior adversity. So I believe that a more accurate term for this recent shift in therapy would be body oriented,.

Therapies that are widely labelled as trauma-informed (EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy….) are broadly all about the presence of trauma within the body, the nervous system, and how these hold old traumatic experiences. They are an orientation towards the individual’s experience within their body, rather than within their mind. And to be clear: this is an incredibly valuable development.

But all therapy is trauma infomed. All therapy, whether it does so explicitly or implicitly, addresses how past experience shows up in the present, and how to free the present from the impact of that past experience. Some do it more through a talk orientation, and some do it more through a body orientation. The distinction is there, rather than in their differing informedness or acknowledgement of trauma itself.