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Trauma Therapy
One of the oldest questions humans ask is, “Why does God allow suffering?”
Trauma can be any experience you have had that causes emotional or psychological harm, such as:
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Physical or sexual assault
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Abuse – physical, sexual, mental, or emotional
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Accidents or witnessing an accident, death, or horrifying situation
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Victimization
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Life-threatening or near-death events
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Natural disasters
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Military combat
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Death or loss of a loved one
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Divorce
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Imprisonment
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Infertility
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Serious illness or injury
If you have experienced trauma, as a survival mechanism, your brain responded to the experience by rewiring itself. As a result of this rewiring, you may be experiencing anxiety, depression, dissociation, flashbacks and even nightmares about the traumatic event This can lead to responding with substance abuse, hostility, detachment from relationships, withdrawal, or illness. You may have recurring unwanted memories about the event or re-live the trauma, which can cause sweating, hearth palpitations, or even anxiety attacks. You might have a constant sense of dread or hyper-vigilance, jumpiness, or irritability. Maybe you have trouble concentrating or you become easily overwhelmed or confused. You may have lost interest in things you used to enjoy or feel detached from other people or everyday life.
Your trauma will either be acute, sustained, or complex. Acute trauma is trauma from a single event. Sustained trauma is trauma from a repeated experience over a long period like combat, abuse or domestic violence that has been ongoing. And complex trauma is trauma from multiple traumatic events.
Trauma Therapy, Because Trauma Is Prevalent
If you feel like you are having some of the symptoms of trauma, here is something to know. It is not because you are fragile, weak, or broken. You are human. The factors that cause a person to experience PTSD are things that are beyond human control, so trauma can happen to anyone. You're not alone. Trauma, unfortunately, is prevalent in America today.
About 15 million adults a year in the U.S. have ecperinced PTSD symptoms. The National Center for PTSD reports that about 60% of men and 50% of women experience at least one trauma in their lifetime. Women are more likely to experience sexual assault and child sexual abuse, while men are more likely to experience trauma from accidents, physical assault, combat, disaster, or witness a death or injury. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, more than two-thirds of kids in the United States experience trauma by the age of sixteen. And more than half of American families have been affected by some form of disaster.
Good News For Trauma Survivors
Even though the symptoms of trauma are painful, the good news is that recovery from trauma is possible. It takes time, and each person’s timeline is different, but there is healing if you get help with trauma therapy. You may have tried to figure out on your own but keep coming back to the same issues. There is evidence that talk therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing) that deal with memories, thoughts, and feelings about the event or events are effective to help overcome the distress, pain, and dysfunction of trauma.
In the safe space of the therapy room, trauma therapy will be enable you to process your emotions and memories about the traumatic event and face your anxieties and fears. You’ll learn skills that will help you cope and live your daily life. You will learn what triggers your trauma and how you react. You’ll be able to tell your story, find peace, and confront your abuser if that is your goal.
As you do this work, you will be rewiring your brain through something called neuroplasticity. The amazing fact is that the pathways in your brain can mold and change over time. And, as your brain begins to heal and return to normal, you will begin reclaiming your life.
How Trauma Therapy Works
Trauma therapy is focused on three aspects:
Trauma Therapy Aspect #1: Considering
Your therapist will help you explore and evaluate the source of your trauma, your memories of it, the emotions you feel, your beliefs about it, and the messages you tell yourself.
Trauma Therapy Aspect #2: Coping
Your therapist will use therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing) to give you skills to cope with your symptoms such as feeling fearful or being on edge around people.
Trauma Therapy Aspect #3: Continuing
Once you have dealt with the source of the trauma and found effective coping skills, your therapist will help you start moving forward with your life.
The kinds of trauma therapy used at Christian Counseling Associates include Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). TFCBT is a form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), an evidence-based form of therapy that has been around a very long time. It deals with the thoughts and beliefs that you have related to your traumatic experience. TFCBT helps children and adults have more understanding about trauma and its effects. You will learn some relaxation techniques and the therapist will get you to talk about your experience and create a trauma narrative where you adjust your thoughts and feelings with respect to your traumatic experience.
EMDR is trauma therapy that helps people process trauma much more quickly than other therapies. Because the brain is always moving toward mental health unless something blocks that flow, EMDR works to remove the blockage. The therapist will use an external stimulus to focus your attention outside yourself. The stimulus might be eye movements following lights, hand tapping, or audio stimulation. You will talk about the event and your distress, or imagine what the future will be like. In the last part of the session, the therapist will have you hold part of your story in your mind as you track lights or hand movements with your eyes. This is an imitation of the way the brain processes your thoughts while you are in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.
Your therapist will work with you to find the therapy method best for you.
Take The Next Step
You don't have to be a victim of your past trauma. You can get it under control, but you must take the first step. How? Reach out to us here or call 972-422-8383 to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to get you started on your journey to freedom.