You Don’t Have to Call It Trauma for It to Deserve Care

When I tell people that Caladrius specializes in trauma, I often get the same response:

“Oh, that’s not for me.”

And honestly, I understand why. The word trauma can feel heavy. Most people immediately think of something catastrophic like war, violence, assault, or natural disasters. But after ten years of working with trauma, I can tell you that what we call “trauma” often looks much more ordinary than people expect.

Once we start talking, I usually hear things like:
“I can’t seem to relax, even when things are fine.”
“I keep ending up in the same kinds of relationships.”
“I’m exhausted but can’t turn my brain off.”
“I feel guilty for setting boundaries.”
“I’ve been in survival mode for so long, I don’t know how to stop.”

That’s the language of trauma, too.

Big T and small t Trauma

In therapy, we sometimes talk about Big T and small t trauma.

Big T trauma includes those clearly life-changing experiences such as abuse, assault, accidents, major loss, or witnessing something terrifying.

small t trauma can be quieter but no less impactful. It’s the accumulation of experiences like chronic stress, emotional neglect, constant criticism, growing up in an unpredictable environment, or years of feeling unseen or unsafe.

Your nervous system doesn’t make a moral judgment about which is “big enough” to count. It simply learns how to keep you safe. Sometimes that means staying hypervigilant, overperforming, avoiding conflict, or disconnecting emotionally. Those adaptations once helped you survive but they can make it harder to thrive.

What Trauma Does in the Brain

From a neurological standpoint, trauma changes how your brain processes threat and safety.

When something overwhelming happens, your brain automatically shifts from thinking mode (the prefrontal cortex) to survival mode (the amygdala and limbic system). This is a brilliant and protective design, but when stress or trauma is ongoing, your system can get stuck there.

The amygdala stays on high alert, always scanning for danger. The hippocampus, which helps you place memories in time, can underfunction, making it hard to distinguish between what’s happening now and what happened before. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for calm reasoning, has less access, which is why you might know you’re safe but still feel unsafe.

That’s not weakness. That’s your body doing exactly what it was designed to do.
And with the right support, the brain can change again. Healing is possible.

You Don’t Need a Diagnosis to Deserve Care

Whether you call it trauma, anxiety, stress, burnout, or “just how I am,” you still deserve care. You don’t have to wait for a diagnosis or a crisis to start therapy.

Therapy can be preventative care: a space to understand yourself, regulate your nervous system, and reconnect with who you are beneath the coping strategies that once kept you safe.

Why We Do This Work at Caladrius

When I started Caladrius, my goal was simple: to create a space where both clients and clinicians could heal, grow, and thrive. Our team specializes in evidence-based trauma therapies like EMDR, Brainspotting, TF-CBT, Play Therapy, Sandtray, and more, but at the heart of it, we specialize in people.

After a decade of working with trauma, I can tell you this:
Healing doesn’t always start with naming trauma.
It starts with noticing where you feel stuck and allowing yourself to believe you deserve to feel better.

💛 You don’t have to call it trauma for it to deserve care.

— Jessie Ogienko, MSW, LCSW, CCTP
Founder & CEO, Caladrius Therapy

Ready to Begin?

You don’t have to have it all figured out to start.
Schedule a consultation with our team and take the first step toward feeling safe and connected again.

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