Psychology of Trauma Etiology

Traumatic Event

A traumatic event is so because it is simultaneously extraordinary and depreciating. It almost always implies a reduction to the ongoing status of at least some important aspect of the affected person or group. From now on, "event" stands for "traumatic event."

Traumatic Sequelae

An event creates for an individual or group a series of cause-to-effect (and consequently related) processes. They comprise a traumatic sequelae: each of the related processes makes up an element (sequela) of the sequelae. Overviewing its elements, they consist of the following::

1. An event places some or all aspects of existential identity (that is, event-pertinent values, beliefs, images and other realities) into extinction.
2. While engaged in or otherwise involved in completing the extinction process, existential identity is not integrated
3. The extinction initiated disintegration forms a traumatic etiology within existential identity. The "etiology" is the initial component of the sequelae.
4. Traumatic etiology (locused in existential identity) affects operational identity (referring to the abilities to manage and experience life events as they function in concert or not with existential identity). It (operational identity) divides itself into rational cognitive and experiential functions.
• The former operate fairly consciously to manage the person during and following the event; the latter are also administered consciously, but they can additionally include repression into the unconscious of very difficult to experience emotional pain.
• The unconscious protects the Person from the experience of some of the emotional pain. It (through the cyclically presenting grief response) modulates extinction activity. Being double edged, the protection also prevents or otherwise slows culmination of the extinction effort: the trauma etiology is maintained in the unconscious.
5. The divided operational identity (that is, experiential attributes being repressed and rational cognitive attributes functioning consciously) has dual and opposing goals. They include:
• helping the person by resolving the trauma etiology (completing the extinction process)
• helping the person by preventing completion of the extinction process
6. The divided and apparently oppositional operational identity screens or otherwise filters all external variables (life events) so that their perceptions (and actions upon or with them) serve to maintain the double-sided operating identity's dual and opposing goals; that is the filtering overlay functions as a paradoxical system of management control - perceptions and actions that are intended to help the person will be presented in manners that have the opposite effects - they hurt the person.
7. Using the divided and paradoxically functioning operational identity, thoughts and behaviors are produced that, when viewed separate from their production as an element of the traumatic sequelae, function outside the social norm. When the same thoughts and behaviors are seen as sequitur elements of the sequelae, they are viewed as normal responses to the traumatic etiology.
8. Trauma etiology engendered symptoms are not just viewed as abnormal by the social system surrounding and observing the trauma-affected person. He or she also views such symptomatology as abnormal. And like the initial event contradicts pre-event existential identity, the new trauma-generated thoughts and behaviors (symptomatology) can and often do function opposite from pre-event values, beliefs, images and realities. These opposite and contrasting behaviors establish the extinction process all over again for the trauma victim's existential identity. The person's own trauma symptomatology cause additional damage to identity.
9. The new contradictions to identity establish a cyclical degenerating phenomenon where the original (event-initiated extinction) etiology fosters aberrant behavior that produces new and continuous trauma etiology.

Traumatic Sequelae Intercession

Once the initial trauma etiology is established, the traumatic sequelae may be interceded upon at any of its succeeding elements. The cyclically degenerative aspects of the sequelae may be interrupted and brought conclusively to an end. Or the cyclically degenerative sequelae may be preempted all together by reversing the initial trauma etiology before it can produce the rest of the sequelae. See About/ Theory/ Trauma Psychology/ Etiology Reversal.

Four Psychological Trauma Patterns

Within the referenced "Etiology Reversal" section, you will find that ETM's structure divides the traumatic sequelae into segments. They lend themselves to the structure's remedy, which includes identification and reversal of the trauma's etiology.

The most important aspect of that segmentation is the structure's delineation of the trauma sequelae in terms of its influence on a trauma-affected individual's memory and behavior. From this view (assuming the sequelae develops fully - without intercession), psychological trauma is said to be retained in memory in 4 patterns. Patterns 1 and 3 provide the locus of the trauma's dual etiologies. The 4 psychological trauma patterns and the etiologies include

1. Pattern One: The experience of the event contradicts the pre-trauma values, beliefs, images and realities; these contradictions form etiology one.
• Contradiction to values, beliefs, images and realities is synonymous with extinction of existential identity.
• "Existential identity" refers to those elements of identity having to do with "being."
• They stand in and function in contrast to active elements of identity (explained later), otherwise referenced in ETM language as "operational identity."
• Extinction" means that the particular element of identity in consideration is being depreciated by the event, the identity element's importance to the individual is being diminished, and usually through force and occurring very rapidly.
• Simultaneously, for the extinction definition to apply, a new element of identity is establishing itself, also with force and very quickly, and always as an opposite to the element of identity being depreciated by the event.
2. Pattern Two: Following the event contradictions, the related loss and associated emotional responses/outcomes are maintained (see paradoxical system of control below) in memory: conscious or otherwise, until the extinction process is completed. The process of extinction is the process known as Loss.
3. Pattern Three: The maintenance of the emotional elements resulting from the contradictions creates the need for survival protective measures: thoughts and behaviors that serve to dissociate the person from the reality of both the contradictions and the emotional memory retention; in the process of that dissociation, additional contradictions occur to existential identity.
• The additional contradictions provide the locus of etiology two.
• It is comprised of elements of existential identity that are being placed into extinction by the trauma victim's own event-initiated survival protective/ adaptive behaviors.
4. Pattern Four: The dissociative activity, that is, the contradictions resulting from survival responses, produce additional experiences of loss and emotion that are also maintained in memory.

Summarizing the 4 psychological trauma patterns, the contradicted values, beliefs, images and realities described in "1" and "3" represent the dual etiologies of psychological trauma; etiology one is formed in pattern 1 and etiology two is formed in pattern 3. Although the losses described in patterns 2 and 4 are inextricably linked to the contradictions reflected, respectively, in patterns 1 and 3, for purposes of simplification of description, the losses are not at this time included in the locus of the etiology; the losses' relationship to etiology is explained in detail in the chapters that address the neurobiology of psychological trauma.

In the Etiology Reversal section, these 4 patterns will correlate to ETM's 4 primary reversal phases.

Grief Cycles Attend the Patterns

Grief cycles attend each loss comprising patterns 2 and 4. Although these cycles may be retained within the respective patterns, the cycles do not manifest for clear observation until etiology reversal is underway, leading one to question whether they are actually retained in the psyche as cycles or if they present as cycles as a response to resolution.

Because of this question, the cycles are described in the chapter on psychological trauma reversal where they indisputably present. Hopefully, it will suffice to say here that emotional elements of grief are a fundamental element of the response to traumatic etiology. This response is described in the referenced chapter, and even more conclusively in the neurobiology chapters. They show the neurological and endocrinological substrates of the emotional elements of the grief response.

Extinction and Its Steps

Note: For the best discussion of "extinction," please see the ETM Theory sections referring to the neurological underpinnings or substrate of the psychology of trauma etiology.

"Extinction" fosters two things happening to memory (in this reference, pertaining to the retention of existential identity) at the same time. Elements of pre-event memory (identity) are depreciated (lost) while elements of post-event memory (identity) are created anew. "Extinction" then involves unlearning values, beliefs, images and realities existing prior to an event and relearning new ones that pertain to the post-event reality.

"Extinction" or the simultaneous "unlearning" and "relearning" of pertinent elements of existential identity is accompanied by emotional pain relative to the importance of those elements of identity being reconfigured. Reading the neurobiological ETM Theory sections, you will find that the pain stems primarily from opioid system modulation of noradrenergic and serotonergic neurotransmitter systems. They both add to the morphological (physical - cellular) structural changes in synaptic operations and structures - they are the biological substrate (physical underpinning) of the unlearning and relearning brain integrating activities.

Where there are more precisely detailed description of the steps to extinction provided on biological side of ETM Theory, the psychological ones may still be helpful. The steps include:

1. Identification of the specific elements of the event having the greatest depreciating effect
2. Identification, experience and expression of the emotional (modulating) response
3. Identification and expression of the specific elements of existential identity contradicted by the event
4. Identification, experience and expression of specific losses attending related (event-contradicted) values, beliefs, images and other realities
5. Identification, experience and expression of the emotion stemming from and accompanying the identification of loss
6. Reconstitution of selected values, beliefs, images and other realities sundered by the event

Using ETM's structured methodology, Trauma Resolution Therapy, the extinction steps may be readily facilitated by taking them one at a time for each event or element of an event.

The Paradoxical System of Control: 
The Survivor

The 4 patterns, including the etiology, are defended by a paradoxical system of control; the trauma victim is perpetually and simultaneously attempting to end and continue the trauma's effects. The paradox keeps the etiology from being reversed and at the same time tries to find the means to reverse the etiology. As long as extinction of existential identity is not completed, the paradoxical system of control is needed. It will:

1. produce post-traumatic symptoms
2. function as a consequence of post-traumatic symptoms
3. produce more etiology
4. maintain itself by paradoxically maintaining the etiology: its reversal or ending would end the need for and existence of the paradoxical system of control

This control apparatus is also referenced as the "Survivor."

Control and Operational Identity

So far, ETM theory has considered primarily existential identity's influence by traumatic events; the foundation of psychological control, which also influences an element of identity, has not been explained. This section provides that explanation.

Although psychological control enjoys a relationship to existential identity, control is an active process that emanates from identity's other component. Because it is active or operationally oriented, it is referenced within ETM language as "operational identity."

Operational identity is comprised of action-oriented attributes (inherent capacities to do or experience certain things), interactions between the attributes and existential identity, and interactions between the attributes themselves. In this definition, these "attributes" are categorized as existing in 2 groups having different orientations; there are rational/cognitive- and experiential-oriented attributes.

Rational/cognitive attributes can include the abilities to:

• establish, discern, accept or discard various values, beliefs, images, and realities,
• think
• learn
• perform tasks
• analyze, interpret and plan events,
• strive to control one's own destiny through the assertion of individual will

Attributes stemming from experientially-oriented brain functionings include abilities to:

• sense
• feel
• be creative
• be spiritual
• empathize, intuit, care
• love, reproduce and manifest sexuality.

Thus, the most distinguishing characteristic between operational identity and existential identity is that operational identity is action-oriented, and existential identity is grounded in basic, developing and, eventually, fixed attitudes.

Following the event, trauma-affected control functions rely increasingly on rational/cognitive oriented attributes during survival and less upon experiential attributes. The latter group of attributes, experiential in their orientation, are also repressed along with the loss and accompanying emotional counterparts comprising the 4 psychological trauma patterns. This unbalanced use of attributes results in a divided operational identity. To compensate for this division the psyche produces a new and overlaying thought system: the Survivor.

The Survivor serves as a connecting element between the conscious use of rational attributes and the repressed aspects of the psychological trauma patterns and experiential-oriented attributes. Herein lies the crux of the Survivor's psychological formation; its primary goal of protecting the person is underpinned by dual and opposing missions. On the one hand, the Survivor attempts to resolve the trauma (reverse the etiology) retained in the subconscious: end that trauma's effects on the psyche. On the other hand, the Survivor has to prevent this resolution: the reversal of the etiology would result in the end of the Survivor's protective existence. Thus, the Survivor is paradoxical in its orientation and its functioning. That is, the Survivor exists as a thought system engaged in a tug-of-war with itself.

In this theory, the paradoxical system of control, the Survivor, is a cyclical and self- perpetuating phenomenon that controls the person, including his or her perceptions, experiences, and decisionmaking processes to the extent that everything is assimilated in a way that leads to the trauma's resolution, but at the same time prevents that resolution. The paradoxical system also makes no distinction between itself and the person, the psychological management system that existed before the Survivor's formation. As a rule, there can be no realization by the person of this condition's existence until its influences are ended and the person's psychological controls are returned to their pretrauma functioning.

Survival Responses to Psychological Trauma

The paradoxical system of control produces thoughts and behaviors; they are manifestated as survival responses. Other people, professionals, and various groups refer to these responses as "symptoms" of psychological trauma or symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. In some programs, responses are simply called "defenses."

For purposes of consolidation, those responses/defenses are presented here in 9 general categories. Each category is accompanied by an outline of the category's contents.

1. The Survivor is instrumental in saving the Self and others. This action includes:
• The saving of physical life: one's Self and others
• Attempting to prevent future trauma-causing events from occurring
• Providing emotional support, caring, and physical protection
• Providing courage for standing against intrusion, hostility, and domination
• The maintenance of intellectual integrity: standing for principle and ethics.
2. The Survivor provides for the recollection or reliving of the trauma-causing events, including:
• Partial recollections
• Nightmares.
• Reliving the event with absolute clarity and accompanying emotional experience: reliving is experienced as if the event is a movie being viewed on a screen.
• Obsessive recollection of the event(s).
3. The Survivor provides for additional signals that tells others that the trauma, to include the memory of the event, contradictions to existential identity, repression of emotional pain and loss, and interruptions to the operational identity that existed prior to the event, although unseen, do exists. Those signals can come in the form of:
• Startle response
• Hysteria
• Hyperarousal
• Paranoia
• Self-pity, self-blame, and self-absorption.
• Cyclical degeneration into inexpressible and unanswerable emotional pain and loss.
• Depression
4. The Survivor provides for the means of living life without conscious experience or recollection of the event or the internally retained damage resulting from it. Such provisions can include:
• Complete, near total, loss of memory of the event
• Rationalization and minimization of the event(s) or circumstances leading to the trauma's occurrence(s)
• Intellectualization of the circumstances surrounding the event(s) to the extent that the sources of the trauma (for example, "source" can be chemical use, chemical dependency, or physical abuse) are ignored
• Denial ("denial" in this use refers to suppression followed by an intense effort to not discuss anything related to the experience) of the trauma and the event(s).
5. The Survivor provides for the means of defending with projection the person; the defense is against the reality of the damage to existential and operational identity. Projection can include:
• Transfering the locus of the unconsciously retained trauma to the thoughts, actions, and motivations of others, and usually not the perpetrator, the actual initiator, of the trauma.
• Physical/sexual assault
• Aggrandizement: the acquisition of things or power to the extent that others are harmed
• Other anti-social activities
• Homicide.
6. The Survivor defends the person from the realization of the damage to existential and operational identity; the means of the defense is counter projection: the assumption of responsibility for traumatic events not caused by the trauma victim. Such counter projections can include:
• The feeling of guilt as an emotional response to a traumatic event caused by someone or something else
• Alignment with and/or protection of the perpetrator of the trauma-causing event(s)
• Continuing to stay in a recurring trauma-causing situation
• Compulsive obsession with the perpetrator of the trauma
7. The Survivor provides for strength with which to overcome the trauma and its effects. Such strengths can include:
• Stoicism
• Stalwartness
• Determination, including driven or obsessive determination
• The achievement of economic/social success and control
8. The Survivor produces an environment through which the internal dynamics of the trauma are accorded adequate time and the appropriate distance from the influences of external forces; these forces can include attempts to help the trauma victim. Some of these responses can be:
• Withdrawal
• Isolation
• Aimlessness
9. The Survivor provides for attempts to end the internal experience of emotional pain and loss. Such provisions can include:
• Fusion or inextricable pairing with another
• Increased dependence on other family members or friends
• Repeated reliance upon professionals and/or helping groups, including self-helping groups, for assistance
• Suicide

Survival Thought and Behavior: A Dichotomous Experience

The manifestation of survival thought and behavior is usually a dichotomous experience. This means that trauma victim's present their survival responses in opposites. In pronounced cases of psychological trauma, the variations between survival responses can be extreme. For example:

1. The family member involved with a chemically dependent person routinely will try to prevent future trauma-causing events, additional drug use behaviors, from occurring (survivor characteristic 1.B; from now on the "Survivor characteristic" delineation is dropped in these examples), and at the same time, or shortly thereafter, deny that the previous events have occurred (4.D), or deny that there is a drug problem at all (4.C).
2. Trauma victims proceed through protracted periods of denial (4.D) or loss or near loss of memory (4.A) of the traumatic event; trauma victims also may periodically engage in unending, obsessive, recollection of the experience (2.D).
3. People affected by trauma will withdraw and isolate themselves (8.A, B); these behaviors are then offset by fusion or the expression of a clinging need while looking for support and assistance (9.A, B, C).
4. Stoicism and stalwartness (7.A and 7.B) are offset by self-pity, self-blame, and self-absorption (3.E).
5. Periods of obsessive determinism (7.C) are offset by periods of aimlessness (8.C).
6. Periods of success, for example, getting in control (7.D), are offset by the experience of a degenerative cycle of inexpressible and unanswerable emotional pain, confusion, and loss (3.F); the person becomes devoid of control and experiences profound failure.

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