Reference
Psychotraumatology Glossary
Concise, sourced definitions of the essential concepts in psychotraumatology: PTSD, complex trauma, polyvagal theory, EMDR, IFS, the window of tolerance, structural dissociation and more.
A
- Adaptive Information Processing (AIP)
- Francine Shapiro's model underpinning EMDR: unprocessed traumatic memories remain stored in dysfunctional, state-dependent form and drive present symptoms until reprocessed.
- Amygdala
- Subcortical structure central to threat detection and fear conditioning; hyperactive in PTSD and drives implicit trauma responses.
- Attachment Theory
- Bowlby–Ainsworth framework describing how early caregiver relationships shape internal working models of self, others, and safety across the lifespan.
- Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
- The branch of the peripheral nervous system regulating involuntary physiology; its sympathetic and parasympathetic branches organize trauma survival responses.
C
- Complex PTSD (C-PTSD)
- ICD-11 diagnosis following prolonged, inescapable trauma — PTSD symptoms plus persistent disturbances in self-organization: emotion regulation, self-concept, and relationships.
D
- Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR)
- Frank Corrigan's brainstem-level psychotherapy that targets pre-affective orienting and shock responses before cortical narrative processing.
- Developmental Trauma
- Chronic adversity during childhood — abuse, neglect, disrupted attachment — that shapes neurodevelopment and produces symptoms distinct from adult-onset PTSD.
- Dissociation
- A disruption of the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception; ranges from mild detachment to structural dissociation of the personality.
- Dorsal Vagal Shutdown
- Polyvagal state of collapse, immobilization, and numbing mediated by the unmyelinated dorsal vagus when threat is inescapable.
- Dysregulation
- Loss of the capacity to keep affect, arousal, or behavior within adaptive limits — a core mechanism across trauma disorders.
E
- EMDR
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing — a phased, evidence-based trauma therapy that uses bilateral stimulation to reprocess pathogenic memory networks.
H
- HPA Axis
- Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis — the neuroendocrine stress system releasing cortisol; chronically dysregulated in trauma survivors.
I
- Intergenerational Trauma
- Transmission of trauma effects across generations via epigenetic, attachment, and social pathways — the descendants of survivors carry measurable risk.
- Internal Family Systems (IFS)
- Richard Schwartz's parts-based psychotherapy: the mind is a system of protective and wounded parts around an undamaged core Self capable of leading healing.
N
- Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT)
- Bruce Perry's developmentally informed clinical approach that sequences interventions from brainstem regulation upward through relational and cortical work.
P
- Polyvagal Theory
- Stephen Porges's theory that the mammalian vagus nerve mediates three hierarchical response states — ventral safety, sympathetic mobilization, dorsal shutdown.
- PTSD
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder — a diagnosable condition of intrusive re-experiencing, avoidance, negative cognition/mood, and hyperarousal after trauma.
S
- Somatic Experiencing
- Peter Levine's body-oriented approach that discharges thwarted survival energy by tracking sensation and pendulating between activation and settling.
- Structural Dissociation
- Van der Hart, Nijenhuis & Steele's theory: trauma splits the personality into apparently normal (ANP) and emotional (EP) parts, in primary, secondary, or tertiary form.
T
- Toxic Stress
- Prolonged activation of the stress response in the absence of buffering relationships; the ACE study links it to lifelong physical and mental illness.
- Triphasic Model
- Judith Herman's three-phase treatment framework — Safety and Stabilization, Trauma Memory Processing, Integration and Rehabilitation — the international standard.
V
- Ventral Vagal State
- Polyvagal state of social engagement and calm connection mediated by the myelinated ventral vagus — the physiological signature of felt safety.
W
- Window of Tolerance
- Dan Siegel's model of the arousal band inside which the nervous system can integrate experience; trauma narrows it and pushes people into hyper- or hypoarousal.