Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence

Trauma-Informed Care Best Practices for 1

Nevadas Domestic Violence Programs

DEFINITION OF TRAUMA
by Judith Herman

Excerpt from J. Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic
Abuse to Political Terror, New York: Basic Books (1992), 33.

Psychological trauma is an affiliation of the powerless. At the moment of trauma, the victim is
rendered helpless by overwhelming force. When the force is that of nature, we speak of
disasters. When the force is that of other human beings, we speak of atrocities. Traumatic
events overwhelm the ordinary systems of care that give people a sense of control, connection,
and meaning.
...
Traumatic events are extraordinary, not because they occur rarely, but rather because they
overwhelm the ordinary human adaptations to life. Unlike commonplace misfortunes,
traumatic events generally involve threats to life or bodily integrity, or a close personal
encounter with violence and death. They confront human beings with the extremities of
helplessness and terror, and evoke the responses of catastrophe.

Funding for this project was made possible in part by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Women's Health. The
views expressed in written materials or publications and by speakers and moderators at HHS cosponsored projects, do not necessarily reflect
the official policies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or
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