Mental health glossary

The ability to manage and modulate emotional responses. Trauma often disrupts affect regulation, leaving people feeling flooded by emotions or emotionally numb. A core goal of trauma therapy is building more flexible affect regulation.

Grief that occurs without a clear loss or social recognition — such as grieving a relationship with a living person who has dementia, grieving a parent who was emotionally absent, or mourning the childhood you didn't have. Often unacknowledged and therefore harder to process.

The emotional bond formed between a child and their primary caregivers. Early attachment patterns — secure, anxious, avoidant, or disorganized — shape how we relate to others in adulthood, particularly in intimate relationships. Attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby, is foundational to most relational and trauma therapies.

Trauma that occurs when someone we depend on for safety or survival violates our trust. The term was coined by Jennifer Freyd and explains why people sometimes don't recognize or disclose abuse — awareness of the betrayal would threaten the attachment relationship they need to survive.

A core component of EMDR therapy. Alternating stimulation of the left and right sides of the body — through eye movements, tapping, or audio tones — activates the brain's natural information-processing system and helps desensitize traumatic memories.

A form of PTSD that develops from prolonged, repeated trauma — particularly in childhood or in situations where escape was difficult or impossible. In addition to standard PTSD symptoms, C-PTSD involves difficulties with emotional regulation, self-perception, and relationships. Recognized in the ICD-11 but not yet in the DSM-5.

A subtype of narcissistic personality characterized by hypersensitivity, passive aggression, victimhood narratives, and covert manipulation — rather than the overt grandiosity typically associated with narcissism. Often harder to identify in relationships because the behavior is more subtle.

Trauma that occurs during critical periods of childhood development — including neglect, emotional abuse, witnessing domestic violence, or chronic unpredictability in the home. Because it occurs while the brain and nervous system are still forming, developmental trauma often has pervasive effects on identity, relationships, and emotional regulation.

A disconnection from thoughts, feelings, surroundings, or sense of identity. Dissociation exists on a spectrum — from mild daydreaming to more significant experiences like depersonalization (feeling detached from your body) or derealization (feeling the world isn't real). It is a common response to overwhelming trauma.

An evidence-based psychotherapy for trauma and PTSD developed by Francine Shapiro. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation — typically guided eye movements — to help the brain process traumatic memories that are "stuck" in a way that continues to cause distress. Recognized by the WHO, APA, and VA as an effective treatment for PTSD.

A sudden, intense return to the emotional state of a past traumatic experience — without the visual or sensory components of a typical flashback. Coined by Pete Walker, emotional flashbacks are common in complex PTSD and can feel like sudden, overwhelming shame, fear, or despair that seems disproportionate to the current situation.

A trauma response — alongside fight, flight, and freeze — characterized by people-pleasing, appeasement, and self-abandonment in the face of threat. Often develops in childhood as a survival strategy in unsafe environments. Coined by Pete Walker in the context of complex PTSD.

A form of psychological manipulation in which someone causes another person to question their own perceptions, memory, or sanity. The term comes from the 1944 film "Gaslight." In abusive relationships, gaslighting is used to maintain control and prevent the target from trusting their own experience.

A research-based approach to couples therapy developed by Drs. John and Julie Gottman. Based on decades of research on what makes relationships succeed or fail, the Gottman Method focuses on building friendship, managing conflict, and creating shared meaning. It includes specific protocols for affair recovery.

A state of heightened alertness and sensitivity to potential threats — a common symptom of PTSD and anxiety. The nervous system remains in a state of readiness for danger even when no danger is present, leading to exhaustion, difficulty relaxing, and being easily startled.

A therapeutic model developed by Richard Schwartz that views the mind as made up of multiple "parts" — each with its own perspective, feelings, and role. IFS works to understand and heal these parts rather than suppress them, with the goal of accessing the "Self" — a state of calm, curiosity, and compassion that is always present.

Trauma that is transmitted across generations — through parenting patterns, epigenetic changes, family systems, and cultural narratives. Also called transgenerational trauma. Research suggests that the effects of trauma can be passed down biologically and behaviorally to children and grandchildren.

A state in which the autonomic nervous system is stuck in activation (fight/flight) or shutdown (freeze/collapse) rather than returning to a regulated baseline. Chronic dysregulation is associated with trauma, anxiety, depression, and many physical health conditions.

A broad term for therapeutic approaches that work with different "parts" of the self — including IFS, Voice Dialogue, and ego state therapy. Parts work recognizes that we are not monolithic and that different aspects of ourselves can hold conflicting beliefs, feelings, and needs.

A theory developed by Stephen Porges that describes how the autonomic nervous system responds to safety and threat through three hierarchical states: ventral vagal (social engagement and safety), sympathetic (fight/flight), and dorsal vagal (freeze/shutdown). Foundational to many somatic and trauma therapies.

A mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Symptoms include intrusive memories, nightmares, avoidance of trauma reminders, negative changes in mood and thinking, and hyperarousal. PTSD is highly treatable with evidence-based therapies like EMDR and CPT.

Trauma that occurs within close relationships — including emotional abuse, neglect, betrayal, abandonment, or chronic misattunement by caregivers or partners. Because it occurs in the context of attachment, relational trauma often has profound effects on the capacity for trust and intimacy.

A couples and individual therapy model developed by Terry Real that focuses on relational accountability, moving out of adaptive child responses, and building full-presence intimacy. RLT is direct and confrontational compared to many other couples approaches.

A body-centered approach to therapy that works with physical sensations, posture, breath, and movement as part of the healing process. Somatic therapies recognize that trauma is stored in the body — not just the mind — and that lasting healing often requires working at the body level.

A strong emotional attachment that forms between an abuse victim and their abuser, often as a result of intermittent reinforcement — cycles of abuse followed by affection or remorse. Trauma bonding makes it difficult to leave abusive relationships and is not a sign of weakness or complicity.

The therapeutic work of integrating traumatic memories so they no longer cause distress. Successful trauma processing means the memory can be recalled without triggering the same emotional and physiological response as the original event. EMDR, IFS, and somatic approaches all facilitate trauma processing in different ways.

A concept developed by Dan Siegel describing the optimal zone of nervous system arousal in which a person can process information and function effectively. When outside this window — either hyperaroused (flooded, panicked) or hypoaroused (numb, dissociated) — effective therapy and learning become difficult. A key goal of trauma therapy is expanding this window.