Trauma can have a profound impact on a person’s
memory . . .
. . . and traumatic memory can affect not only the brain, but also the body and nervous system as well.
But conceptualizing how trauma can impact the different types of memory can be challenging, so we created a free tool for practitioners that breaks down this process.
Click the image to enlarge
(If you’re sharing this infographic, please attribute it to NICABM. We put a lot of work into creating these resources for you. And if you’re sharing this digitally, please link back to this page in your attribution. Thanks!)
Explicit Memory
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Semantic Memory
How Trauma Can Affect It Trauma can prevent information (like words, images, sounds, etc.) from different parts of the brain from combining to make a semantic memory.
Related Brain Area The temporal lobe and inferior parietal cortex collect information from different brain areas to create semantic memory.
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Episodic Memory
How Trauma Can Affect It Trauma can shutdown episodic memory and fragment the sequence of events
Related Brain Area The hippocampus is responsible for creating and recalling episodic memory.
Implicit Memory
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Procedural Memory
How Trauma Can Affect It Trauma can change patterns of procedural memory for example, a person might tense up and unconsciously alter their posture, which could lead to pain or even numbness.
Related Brain Area The striatum is associated with producing procedural memory and creating new habits.
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Emotional Memory
How Trauma Can Affect It after trauma, a person may get triggered and experience painful emotions, often without context.
Related Brain Area The amygdala plays a key role in supporting memory for emotionally charged experiences.
If you’d like to print a copy, you can use one of these links:
You can hear more about how trauma affects the brain, body, and nervous system in the Treating Trauma Master Series.
You’ll get insights from Bessel van der Kolk, MD; Pat Ogden, PhD; Dan Siegel, MD; Stephen Porges, PhD; and Ruth Lanius, MD, PhD.
Now we’d like to hear from you. How could this help you in your work? Please leave a comment below.
The explanation with visuals is excellent. Teaching people that this is a physical reaction not a moral failure will be helpful in the healing process. Awareness is crucial.
The materials you are providing are very valuable and I am thinking through possible ways I might have my students take the “Treating Trauma” master series. Cost , in addition to the credits they pay for their degree, is always an issue but thinking through options. The infographics and other visuals you are creating do a wonderful job of breaking down complex information into manageable parts. PS: Art Therapy should be on your list per the “Profession Choices”
What can other people do who don’t have the finances to get this help? Thank you!
I myself would like to know what kind of training one has to have to be efficient in working with clients who have memory problems. Is there a specialization, like gerontology?
This is helpful in understanding what happens when I am triggered by a place or situation. Thank you.
thank you ! this information is great!
thank you ! this information is great!
I am trying to understand what has happened to me these do help
Thank you
Zoe
I am a licensed mental health counselor and I teach psycho education classes in a PROS (personalized recovery oriented services) and about 99% of the participants have experienced significant traumas. I also teach a class on rebuilding trust and conquering trauma, where I teach the participants about how trauma as affected their brains and bodies. I believe using a multi sensory approach to presenting information helps them understand and remember better, not to mention, they simply are less bored with colorful visuals. I will definitely be using this in my classes. Thank you
I am a Licensed Massage Therapist. I have been helping people with different types of trauma. The diagram is really helpful. Thank you for this information.
Thanks so much for this information. I have suffered trauma as a child, in my marriage(verbally) and after the loss of my youngest child. I have a lot of problems with word retrieval, forgetfulness, memory and loss of thoughts when having a conversation. It is very frustrating and embarrassing to say the least. It feeds into my feelings of low self esteem as I feel “stupid” in front of others during conversations. I run a volunteer support group for Bereaved Parents and this information will be helpful to those parents knowing it is caused from the trauma surrounding their loss. I hope that there will be shared information about how to address these issues and heal our brains.
This is really great for showing the different areas of the brain affected in different ways and even at different times by one single traumatic event. So brilliant. Thank you SO much for sharing it with us!!
This is so useful for sharing with patients as well as for practitioners.
As a reikimaster practicing healing it can serve my reading a client and for myself having sustained a traumatic concussion it helps me regain a healthy perspective.
I’m excited to delve deeper into this material. It’s for myself first, as I’ve suffered traumatic injuries from a car accident and physical/emotional abuse from a spouse. I’ve sought out treatment to overcome these things; but it was a long drawn out process. Could there have been an easier/quicker path; and if so, how will this help me to help others who might other wise give up! Our Vets are at the Top of that List!
Thankyou very much for this
I am working with clients who have experienced torture physical and emotional abuse
This pictorial educational poster will help me visualise with them when I explain the psych education of the threat system
Yes, I agree clients respond well to understanding the science. A special type of what I call “transformational meditation” also works very well, because it teaches the brain how to change its energy around an old memory. I teach all my clients that they have power over everything and how to use this insight to become creators of every aspect of their lives. Once they experience the truth of this trauma memory begins to lose its impact over them. When we combine the spiritual side with science amazing things are possible. I work mainly with financial traders and have seen healing occur from traders who where involved in 9/11. The healing has transformed their trading and their lives.
Many clients respond well to understanding the science which causes their symptoms. This infographic wiĺl really help that process – thank you
Thank you for the helpful tools! I really appreciate!
Thank you
This is a tool to show not just tell clients about the brain and how trauma may be experienced and affect memory and every day life.
Thank you. This is a helpful resource for my clients.
This is helpful to have to show clients. Thank you for sharing!
Very informative
This graphic is so helpful. It’s great to have multiple ways of describing memory. Thanks so much!
This is great! Thank you,
Regards, Pat, PsyD, LP
Thank you very much for the infographics and the free series. Sincerely appreciated. Using it for self, understanding and enhanced awareness as well as for clients that I work with that experience both mental health and addiction concerns. Many who have experienced trauma. I will use the infographic sheet to teach clients the effects of trauma and memory and normalize their experiences so that they can become informed, understanding of self and practice loving kindness towards self and others. This will also be helpful when working with family members of individuals that have experienced trauma.
Thank you very informative
This helped me out immediately! I facilitate Equine Assisted Learning for skills development, team-building and leadership training. This morning was a challenging session for my clients who are in recovery from addictions. One client was strongly triggered during the session but worked through de-escalating with support, and was able to make choices to find safety and trust in both her equine and human partners. This info-graphic has provided me a framework to more clearly understand and be more cognizant of the behavioral signs of the effects of trauma on both implicit and explicit memory. I feel better prepared.
Love it, love it, love it!
This will be of immense benefit in teaching patients about how trauma affects their lives, both initially, and in an ongoing way.
An excellent teaching tool.
As a parent, I (gratefully) watch these videos to learn how to continually help my children heal from their early trauma. I know info graphics can’t always be everything, but I do so wish this one had two more categories in each stage “What this looks like in behavior” – in real life, where/how a child might act out the different brain functions and then “How to react/respond to that child” and how that response actually helps the child heal.
Donna, I like so much the idea! I work with children and look for ways to help my children too, so I’ll try to figure out some points.
For semantic memory trauma displays itself as incongruent or incomplete conceptions: “I like fluffy dogs – oh, I hate barking dogs! Can I have a dog which never barks?”
For episodic memory in children it’s usually lack of words (never mentions grandpa’s dog for example) and avoiding any talk about it. But suddenly it can appear in games or other topics. It can look like there is no direct access to the story, but somehow it appears.
For emotional memory it’s triggers and avoiding any context connected to triggers, or trying hard to take control over a simple thing (like passing by a neighbour owning a dog – for example, a child can invent a toy weapon to fight or annihilate the neighbour’s house).
For procedural memory it’s permanent difficulties while doing simle tasks, failures or getting hurt.
I think what we can do is to be conscious and react lovingly and yet scincerely. And to be stable and able to settle down ourselves
Yulia,
Thank you for those examples. My daughter experienced trauma when she witnessed my ex-husband shoving me and screaming at me. While it was happening, she was wailing and turned to her grandma. Immediately after she asked me if daddy was going to punch her in the face. However now, when her and I have talked about it she says she doesn’t remember seeing it. She told me she heard fragments of words and remembered her grandma yelling to stop. When she talked to CPS about it, she told them she didn’t remember that and I was disappointed that my ex was not able to be held accountable. I’ve been trying to figure out why how she can’t remember something so crazy, but I’m learning more about memory and trauma. Now she tends to avoid talking about things that are upsetting or say she doesn’t remember what happened.
Thank you for this great infographic! I work at a non-profit brain injury society and this infographic will be a great help in explaining to clients some parts of memory loss related to their concussions/brain injuries. Great work, great series!
Thank you so much for providing this info graphic for free for other therapists. I will using this with most of my clients, most of whom have experienced trauma(s) per the ACE Study definitions, and with my clinical supervisees.
I am having a hard time printing this graphic on one page. Can anyone offer a suggestion? When I make it smaller, I lose part of the graph.
Thanks,
Heather
Heather, did you try clicking on the “print friendly” which is in the sentence below the graphic?
In your computer’s Print window (when you choose print the PDF); under the Page Sizing and Handling section, choose the option Fit – and it will fit ion a regular 8.5 x 11 paper.
Here is one more thought on the process of healing from trauma. I was thinking of this when I watched the 2nd or 3rd part of the series….When trying to socialize oneself at any point in the process of healing from trauma, people need safe attachment MODELS, and secondly, to be tutored on how to recognize when their social and physical boundaries have been breached…. and how to assert their BOUNDARIES in such a way as to be fully heard and respected. Often in couples, an abusive spouse will be emotionally like a mirror image of MOM or DAD, and if you’ve seen this over and over, you do not recognize it as abuse. It’s what is. What does loving behavior look like? What does it not look like?
Instead of blaming the sequellae of trauma on the victim, why aren’t the perpetrators of traumas confronted and corrected? Seems we are wanting relief, but not addressing the root of the problem.
Thank you very much for the pictures and explanations of how different memory types can be affected by trauma. There is one more affect when the trauma is physical –as are sexual molestation and impact. These injuries may last for a lifetime and they too need to be acknowledged and addressed.
Agree. I think the perpetrators need to be addressed to change behavior; it is some form of dysfunction acquired during their development. Maybe out of fear, ACEs or just plain old poor behavior passed down from generation to generation as acceptable norm. There is so much accepted abuse (including verbal degradation of any other group & poor values like women are sex objects just look at their figures) & violence (e.g., child videos, movies, the multiple wars each and every year) in today’s world that is sends the message to society it is okay to resolve ones self conflict by aggressively taking it out on others by pushing them down as something less so they don’t have to look at their own vulnerabilities. Things are out of control just look at what behavior is deemed acceptable by the US President; his demeaning words & actions against women, children, & animals. Not to mention his head of EPA selection’s conflicting record with the mission of the EPA & the recent judge selected; how a women’s voice was ignored & written off. All human authority needs to be absolutely accountable & justifiable as benefitting all, not just a few. Why are tobacco companies still allowed to make cigarettes when they have beyond any reason doubt been found to only harm an individual’s health and be extremely addictive? Same thing for added sugar (no health benefit, detrimental & addictive) and what about our environment & the animals. It starts with a community’s beliefs and practices; we all need to change what is acceptable and not tolerate what is harmful to any other.
This is wonderful! Thank you so much for this resource. This series has been very enjoyable.
thank you so much for the gift of this infographic! I listened to the series and took notes but this is so helpful. i’m an elementary school counselor in a very nice neighborhood but trauma is so prevalent–parent deaths every year, life-threatening allergic reactions, family stress, parental PTSD and the list goes on.
Posted on LinkedIn. Thank you.
thank you for the excellent information! this will be great when working with foster and adoptive parents to help them understand trauma and the children for whom they are providing care.
You have omitted a crucial part of semantic memory, and that is probably the most important from a therapeutic angle. That omitted part is: what meaning does the brain derive from the experience. “I was so stupid to fall off the bicycle”, or “the onlookers must have thought I was clumsy”, or “it simply isn’t safe to ride a bicycle. I’ll never do that again,” or a myriad other personal constructions. It is these schemas that then cause problems for clients, and these schemes that can be transformed through proper clinical application of Memory Reconsolidation. See for example Unlocking the Emotional Brain, by Bruce Ecker et. al.
Great point Melissa, thank you, I am adding that to my copy of this graph.
helpful information. please send more.
Thank you so much for this infographics. It is so helpful as I’m unable to note down the information as fast as I listened. Most importantly it gives me a clearer understanding of your teaching and how to use them to help myself and my clients.
I have previously signed up for a paid course, and I know how useful and helpful it has been to refer back whenever needed.
Thank you for another excellent course full of excellent researched knowledge and ideas. It’s so encouraging to read the comments from participants all over the world, who have benefitted in different ways due to the kind generosity you and your team of experts in sharing these valuable information.
Just when I was beginning to lose all hope, I am finally reading something that might just help my daughter. After suffering in an extremely abusive relationship, and following the last attack, my daughter was eventually able to try and move on with her life with her son (four months old at the time).
She had quite a stressful job managing a call centre and juggling life as a first time mum. One morning she rang me and it became clear something was really wrong. She didn’t know what day it was (23.12.16) and knew Xmas was approaching but didn’t know when. Her short term memory seemed to have gone. She only managed to call me because she had me on speed dial. We have been passed from pillar to post over the last two years and still don’t have an answer to what is causing it or a clue how to deal with it. She has cognitive issues too.
Thank you for the information you have provided maybe this is just what I have been looking for!
I’ve been fallowing you for a year and watching everything available by you. Thank you for saving my life by shining light into my confused head! I suffered a head injury 3 years ago causing me concussion. Living in UK, I got no sympathy and was expected to go back to the life I had within 2 weeks! We are still stuck in early 20st century believes of concussion! You are helping me and giving me tools to see things clearer and help myself to live the life once again as a different person. As you mentioned that helps my family and friends to reconnect and respect the new person that I am now. Thanks again?
There are o lot of interesting things that i didn’t know about. I’m verry thankful for this informations
Thanks for this infographic. It was very late at night for me. i had difficulty taking it all in. This will be very useful.
Excellent resource, helpful in my coaching practice and client education. Thank you,
Fantastic to have these resources .many thanks
Thank you so much for this, really clear, simple graphic which will help me recall when required as appropriate with my clients
I’m loving this series but wish there was an in between cost option, but am thankful that at least I get to see and hear the sessions and can take my own notes.
Enhanced understanding when counseling victims of trauma and appliable to clientts learning as well. Awesome job!
Hi imam very grateful for the information it helps me understand patients who I will be treating in the future for assessment and treatment, I am a student nurse, I also work in aged care in the dementia unit so I am fascinated with how the brain processes and how different effects have different outcomes it will help me become more efficient in understanding my patients needs thank you