If it feels like you hear the term “trauma” used a lot and in many different situations, you aren’t mistaken. Trauma has become a buzzword for educators, psychologists, doctors and beyond. Americans are obsessed with trauma. But what is it and does it deserve the hype?
I’ve been following the work of Dr. George Bonanno since I worked in AIDS. A Professor of Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, he’s an internationally known expert on trauma and resilience.
In 2025 he did an interview for Big Think as part of their series The Roots of Resilience. If you think that trauma leaves irreversible scars, the science, however, shows the opposite. We’re basically wired for resiliency.
There are at least three very much interrelated misconceptions about trauma right now. One is that anything very difficult and unpleasant, hard, can cause trauma or is a trauma. Another is that anything that we consider a trauma has lasting emotional damage. And the third, which is very pernicious, is that there are hidden traumas that we're carrying around PTSD like traumas in us somewhere, and they're hidden from us, yet they are continuing to harm us and to cause difficulties in our life. Even saying that, I have to confess, even saying that makes me feel funny because as a scientist, when you say, "we carrying around with us hidden traumas," I want to say, "where are they?"
In addition to listening/reading Bonanno’s talk, definitely recommend checking out The Roots of Resilienceseries which explore “Why the world is reorganizing for instability.”
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