Learning and Growing Through Trauma

Understanding your own behaviour is the key to growth

Craig McWha
5 min readMay 10, 2022
Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash

Trauma-Informed Practice. What the hell is that, then?

This was the key question I had asked myself whilst preparing for an interview with a homeless charity recently (spoiler alert I got the job. I love it!)

I did a bit of research, enough to answer any potential interview questions at a reasonable level anyway. Fast-forward a couple of weeks to my induction. Day two was to be spent learning about trauma. Man, what a course this was. It was not only informative and inspiring, it began to help me understand myself.

So, allow me to indulge in my favourite pastime (talking about myself) and take you on a little journey through my mind.

What is trauma?

Trauma is not what happens to you, trauma is what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you

Dr Gabor Maté

Often, when looking at problem behaviours (addictions etc.) we look solely at the behaviour rather than the root cause of that behaviour. Gabor Maté says that trauma is typically at the heart of problematic behaviours. To understand, say, addiction, we need to understand the impact of events that lead to the addiction.

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Craig McWha
Craig McWha

Written by Craig McWha

Former rough sleeper, UK RAF veteran, graduate. Interested in society and social issues. A growing interest in tech stuff and Cyber Security.