from Part IV - Meaning and Disturbance
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 June 2025
Trauma refers to an event or series of events that overwhelms the capacities of the person. Trauma disrupts all developing systems from brain to self. Trauma is especially devastating in the early years because of the nature of development. Development is cumulative and follows the principle of differentiation. Basic forms are laid down and then refined; therefore, there is a lasting impact of early disruption. Trauma can be especially devasting with regard to meaning making, because the major impact of trauma is to compromise integration. Integration is precisely what meaning making is. When early integration is compromised, gaps in the mind in the form of dissociation will result.
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