Shock is therapy resistant. It lingers after the therapeutic relationship is over. If you are stuck in patterns you have tried your best to change, the cause is most likely shock. Trauma is largely developmental, reflecting events that occurred at crucial developmental sequences. These events are generally harmful, overwhelming, and disturb relational harmony, but there are always defenses available against these experiences.
Shock occurs when there are intense experiences and no defenses at all.
It describes a therapeutic experience of using the resources you had but did not use when an overwhelming or traumatic incident occurred. For instance, if you fell down a flight of stairs because you were not able to choose to use your hands to break the fall, you could re-experience the fall and use your hands. This would allow your nervous system to sequence the event differently. Thus, you would be able to distinguish the past from the present. You would no longer be filled with panic every time you stood at the top of a flight of stairs.