The Language of Trauma, Part 5: Social and Collective Trauma
Some of the pain we carry lives in our families, our histories, and in the events that shook entire communities. Social and collective trauma impacts groups of people through events like wars, natural disasters, pandemics, or acts of terrorism. In Los Angeles we’re collectively close to many of these events, for example, the January 2025 wildfires that devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena. These events may happen suddenly, but their ripple effects are long-lasting. They can fracture trust, disrupt communities, and leave entire populations living in a state of fear or loss.
This trauma is subtly different from cultural trauma, which we explored in the previous post. Cultural trauma includes wounds caused by systemic oppression over time, like racism, colonization, patriarchy, and forced displacement. Like cultural trauma, social and collective trauma often lives in silence and gets passed down quietly from one generation to the next. This genetic impact is the topic of the next post in this series, The Language of Trauma, Part 6: Intergenerational Trauma. It shapes how we see ourselves and where we feel safe. Both types of trauma can live in our bodies, relationships, and sense of identity. Our nervous systems remember. Trauma therapy can help.
One of the most far-reaching examples of social trauma in recent history is the COVID-19 pandemic. While it was a public health crisis, it was also a profound collective emotional and psychological rupture. It brought sudden isolation, loss of routines and livelihoods, fear of illness and death, and ongoing grief. For many, it also intensified existing inequities and other cultural traumas. This was especially true for frontline workers, caregivers, the elderly, and marginalized communities. Even now, long after restrictions have lifted, many are still navigating the emotional residue. Lingering anxiety in social situations, hypervigilance around safety, and a sense of disconnection have become normative experiences. The pandemic didn’t just affect our bodies. It reshaped our sense of time, trust, and what it means to feel connected in the world.
Kinds of Collective Trauma
Social and collective trauma can also come from:
War and political violence
Mass displacement due to natural disasters or climate collapse
Acts of terrorism or community violence
Shared grief, like after a school shooting or major national tragedy
These events frequently are public and visible. Their emotional and psychological impacts can be deeply personal and long-lasting.
How Do You Know If You’re Carrying Collective Trauma?
Even if you didn’t live through the event yourself, collective trauma can still live in you. You might notice some of these signs within yourself.
A harsh inner critic or pressure to always “hold it together”
Feeling anxious, on edge, or emotionally numb
Guilt or shame that doesn’t match your personal experience or the present moment experience
A deep longing for safety, community, or belonging
Patterns in your relationships that feel stuck or hard to explain
Body symptoms, dreams, or emotional flashes that feel older than you
Six Reflection Questions for Making Sense of Shared Wounds
What global or community-level events have most shaped my sense of safety or belonging?
How did I (or my family) respond emotionally to moments of collective crisis?
Were there times I felt alone in my experience, even though everyone around me was “going through it too”?
In what ways did I disconnect—from myself, others, or the world—just to cope?
How did collective events impact my relationships, identity, or sense of the future?
Are there shared griefs I still carry that haven’t been named or processed?
Healing Is Possible—Even After Widespread Upheaval
Healing from social and collective trauma means slowly rebuilding a sense of safety, connection, and meaning after everything has been shaken. It’s not just about “getting back to normal”—it’s about integrating what happened, grieving what was lost, and finding new ways to move forward, individually and together.
Here are some approaches that can help:
Parts Work and IFS offer space to connect with the inner parts of you that may have gone into overdrive during a crisis. For example, there is the part that shuts down, the part that tries to manage everything, and maybe the part that still feels overwhelmed.
Brainspotting, a deep somatic therapy for processing trauma, is especially useful for processing overwhelming experiences. Brainspotting was reported effective more than any other therapy modality in the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012. It allows for deep trauma processing from sudden loss, helplessness, or prolonged stress from events like pandemics or natural disasters.
Ceremony, memorials, and symbolic acts can help process the kinds of collective losses—lives, time, connection—that often go unnamed. These types of rituals are often incorporated in depth psychotherapy, our specialty at Rezak Therapy. A depth approach incorporates the deeper emotional and existential impacts of mass trauma—like disorientation, loss of meaning, or spiritual crisis—and supports you in finding symbolic and personal ways to reconnect.
Group Therapy Being in community with others who lived through similar events can help ease isolation, normalize your experience, and create space for shared healing.
Creative and Expressive Practices like movement, art, music, and writing help give shape to emotions that are too big, too complex, or too buried for words alone. At Rezak Therapy, we often incorporate tools from Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way in our tailored approach to trauma therapy.
Spending time outdoors, connecting with rhythms of the earth, or building rituals around nature can help restore regulation and a sense of continuity when life has felt chaotic or unstable.
Books and Resources For Healing Collective Trauma
Healing Collective Trauma by Thomas Hübl — A spiritual and integrative guide to recognizing, processing, and healing the lingering effects of collective and intergenerational trauma through presence, attunement, and community
The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté — explores how collective stress, disease, and trauma are symptoms of an unhealthy culture
The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller — speaks to unacknowledged grief, including collective grief after mass crises
The War for Kindness by Jamil Zaki — how empathy can be rebuilt after polarization and violence
Grieving in Community, Point of Relation Podcast — a conversation with Francis Weller and Thomas Hübl
Trauma Therapy for Social and Collective Trauma in Pasadena, California
If you’re carrying the weight of something bigger than yourself—grief, overwhelm, disconnection—you’re not alone. Social and collective trauma can be complex, but healing is possible with the right support. If you’re curious about how trauma therapy might help, I invite you to schedule a free consultation call. We can talk about what you’re carrying and explore whether Rezak Therapy feels like a good fit for you. You deserve care, connection, and a path forward. Together, we can work toward healing—not just for you, but for everything you’re connected to.
