Big T and small t trauma: Understanding the spectrum of trauma

When most people hear the word trauma, they think of big, life-altering events — war, assault, natural disasters, abuse. Those experiences absolutely are trauma, but they don’t tell the whole story.

Trauma doesn’t always come from one catastrophic event. Sometimes it comes from smaller repeated events that quietly shape how safe, loved, or worthy we feel.

In trauma-informed care, we often talk about “Big T” trauma and “Small t” trauma to help people understand this spectrum.

Big T Trauma

Big T traumas are the obvious, overwhelming experiences that threaten your sense of safety or survival.
Examples include:

• Physical or sexual assault
• Serious accidents
• Natural disasters
• War or political violence
• The sudden death of a loved one

These experiences often lead to post-traumatic stress responses — hypervigilance, flashbacks, nightmares, or emotional numbing.
They’re easier to identify because something big and undeniable happened.

As trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk says in The Body Keeps the Score:

“Trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our capacity to think.”

Big T trauma overwhelms the nervous system all at once — the body and mind can’t process it in the moment, so the experience gets “stuck.”

“Small t” Trauma

Small t traumas are the subtle, often chronic experiences that slowly erode your sense of safety and self-worth.
They might include:

• Ongoing criticism, rejection, or emotional neglect
• Racism or microaggressions
• Family conflict or instability
• Growing up feeling unseen, controlled, or dismissed
• Chronic stress or burnout

They can create deep emotional patterns — anxiety, shame, perfectionism, people-pleasing, emotional disconnection --- that affect you for a long time afterward. Often, this leads to what’s known as Complex PTSD.

Psychologist Peter Levine (creator of Somatic Experiencing) reminds us that trauma isn’t only about what happens to us, but about what happens inside us:

“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.” 

Small t traumas add up — especially when they happen in childhood, when we depend on others for safety and regulation. 

The ACEs Connection

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study, conducted by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente, was one of the largest studies to link early emotional and physical experiences with later health outcomes.
It showed that even “ordinary” childhood adversities — such as emotional neglect, family dysfunction, or parental mental illness — can profoundly affect long-term physical and mental health.

The more ACEs a person experiences, the higher their risk for:

• Depression and anxiety
• Chronic illness
• Substance use
• Relationship difficulties 

What this tells us is that “small” doesn’t mean insignificant. The nervous system doesn’t measure trauma by size — it measures by impact and lack of support. 

Why This Matters

Understanding the spectrum of trauma helps us move away from comparison and shame.
Many people dismiss their pain because they “didn’t have it that bad.” But the body doesn’t make that distinction — it only knows when it feels unsafe, unseen, or disconnected.

At Trauma Gym, we create space for both kinds of trauma — the loud and visible and the quiet and invisible.
Because all pain deserves understanding, and all healing deserves space.

From Trauma to Healing

Whether your experiences are “big T” or “small t,” healing begins with awareness and compassion.
It’s about learning how your body, emotions, and thoughts adapted to survive — and gently helping them find safety again.

As Gabor Maté says:

“The essence of trauma is disconnection — from ourselves, from others, and from the present moment.”

At Trauma Gym, we focus on restoring that connection — through the body, mind, and heart — one step at a time.

You Don’t Need to Compare Pain

Your story matters. Your reactions make sense. And whether your trauma came from a single event or a lifetime of small wounds, healing is possible.

Because the question isn’t “Was my trauma big enough?”
It’s “Am I ready to start listening to what my body and heart have been trying to tell me?”

References:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2023). Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/  
• Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., ... & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8
• Levine, P. A. (2010). In an unspoken voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
• Maté, G. (2023). The myth of normal: Trauma, illness, and healing in a toxic culture. New York, NY: Avery.
• Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York, NY: Viking.