ABSTRACT

Trauma. The word is used in such sweeping ways and can encompass so many different kinds of experiences ± all of differing severities and durations: what kind of experience really warrants this word? The list is grim and includes: rejection, divorce, serious illness, accident, abandonment, sexual abuse, physical abuse, separation, bereavement, wartime experience, torture, witnessing or experiencing violent attack, seeking political asylum, moving home, emotional cruelty, poverty.