The Body Keeps the Score: Key Terms

Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE)

Various traumatic events experienced in childhood, including abuse (physical and sexual), neglect (physical and emotional), and family dysfunction (often parental issues such as addiction or imprisonment).

Amygdala

The “smoke detector” of the brain. It processes emotions, especially those relating to survival, and determines what is and isn’t a threat.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

A disorder marked by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. According to van der Kolk, traumatized patients are often misdiagnosed with ADHD or have a comorbid diagnosis of it.

Alexithymia

A condition in which an individual is unable to feel or put words to emotions that their body is experiencing physically.

Arousal

A state of physiological activation in response to a stimulus, whether physical or emotional.

Attachment

The basis of attachment theory. A bond formed between a child and their caregiver. Attachment may be secure or insecure (with the subcategory disorganized, an attachment style which is both avoidant and fearful).

Attunement

Being sensitive to the emotional needs of others and responding accordingly, especially between caregivers and children. Emotional attunement often leads to secure attachment styles.

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

The branch of the nervous system controlling automated tasks such as breathing and blinking. It also provides automatic physiological responses to perceived threats.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

A type of talk therapy focused on challenging cognitive distortions and negative thought patterns via desensitization and exposure.

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD)

A condition that results from repeated and/or prolonged exposure to trauma.

Cortisol

A stress hormone released at the amygdala’s signal.

Depersonalization

A stress response that creates feelings of emotional numbness or distance between an individual and a traumatic event.

Developmental trauma disorder (DTD)

A proposed condition that results from prolonged and/or repeated exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACE).

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

A manual used in the diagnosis of mental illnesses and their treatment.

Dissociation

A trauma response in which an individual partially or wholly disconnects from thoughts, sensations, and feelings surrounding a traumatic event.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

A measurement of electrical activity in the brain.

Emotional and rational brain

Two systems of the brain, regulating emotional responses and logical responses, respectively. They typically work together, but can overpower each other in different situations.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

A type of therapy that involves using eye movements while processing traumatic memories in order to alleviate distress.

Exposure therapy

A type of therapy that uses repeated exposure to desensitize a patient to a source of distress.

Fight/flight response

A nervous system response that prepares an individual to either fight or flee a perceived threat via physiological reactions such as increased heart rate or quickened breathing.

Flashbacks

A phenomenon in which an individual “flashes back” or reexperiences a past traumatic event, often with physiological reactions as if the event was actually happening again.

Freeze response (immobilization)

A nervous system response that defends the body against a perceived threat by disengaging, collapsing, or freezing.

Heart rate variability (HRV)

A measure of the fluctuations in time between heartbeats.

Inescapable shock

A condition in which an individual is unable to escape a traumatic or distressing experience.

Integration

The process by which a traumatic memory is reclassified as a past memory and is no longer experienced as if it is happening in the present when remembered.

Internal family systems therapy (IFS) (managers, exiles, firefighters, Self)

A type of therapy that divides the mind into different parts that form a family, or system, that affect each other. These parts include the mangers, exiles, firefighters, and Self. Managers are protectors that are responsible for safety, organization, and securing connections. Firefighters are protectors that will take extreme measures to guard against or stop emotional pain. Exiles contain elements of traumatic memories, such as emotions and sensations, and are often locked away. The Self is the distilled core of a person, protected by the managers and firefighters and separate from the exiles. Only the Self can manage all of the parts of the system.

Learned helplessness

A state resulting from repeated traumatic experiences in which an individual responds to any further distress by immediately giving up and not attempting to change anything.

Limbic system

Also called the mammalian brain. It regulates emotions, survival, and social experiences.

Medial prefrontal cortex

The “watchtower” of the brain. It assists in making logical decisions and assessing whether something is truly a threat.

Mindfulness

A practice promoting awareness of and focus on the present.

Neurofeedback

A therapy that focuses on electrically altering brainwave patterns.

Numbing

A stress response that creates emotional numbness or distance, preventing individuals from feeling their emotions.

Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS)

The “brake” of the nervous system. It returns the body back to equilibrium after the sympathetic nervous system has created a response.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

A condition that results from an individual experiencing a traumatic event.

Psychomotor therapy

Also called PSBS therapy. A type of therapy that has the patient, or protagonist, create a representation, or structure, representing their past, with the aid of objects or other people.

Repressed memory

A traumatic memory that has been repressed or dissociated from the conscious memory of the brain.

Reptilian brain

Also called the ancient animal brain. It is responsible for activities essential to life, such as sleeping and breathing, and is the most instinctual part of the brain.

Resilience

The ability to adapt to the demands of different life experiences and withstand challenges.

Self-regulation

The ability to control thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in order to cope, maintain balance, or reach goals.

Sensory self-awareness

The awareness of an individual’s physical connection to their own body and its senses.

Sympathetic nervous system (SNS)

The “accelerator” of the nervous system. It is responsible for the fight or flight response and other forms of arousal.

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