What is Trauma Therapy?
Many of us will facing our own challenges, stressors, and trauma(s). Trauma occurs when there is too much for way too long, there is too much too soon, there is not enough for too long, and your choice was ripped away. Your stressor outweighs your available resources and your protective instincts, intuitions, and responses are thwarted (prevents you from healing). There is no enough time, space, and permission to heal. Trauma may come in many forms, such as a physically or emotionally abusive relationship, a physical accident such as a car accident, sexual abuse, rape, birth trauma, the sudden loss of a loved one or pregnancy, loss of infant, war, witnessing or hearing about a distressing or traumatic experience.
When a person experiences trauma, their entire world changes almost instantly. Many trauma survivors have a hard time feeling safe and secure. They begin to feel anxiety and depression, have trouble sleeping, and may experience other behavioral changes that are frightening to them and their loved ones.
How Does Trauma Therapy Work?
When you have experienced trauma and begin to see some of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it’s time to explore treatment so you can begin healing. The idea of therapy can feel scary and overwhelming to people with PTSD, mainly because they need to have a sense of total control to feel safe.
But trauma therapy is really something that can empower an individual with PTSD. With the help of a caring and qualified mental health professional, the person can begin to process past events, stripping that traumatic event of its power.
Trauma therapy is a form of therapy that can change the way your brain works through what is called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity simply means our brains and neural pathways (how we think and feel) are malleable. Through specific mental health tools and strategies, we can retrain our brains to let go of the fear and begin to heal.
Some of the goals of trauma therapy are:
- To safely process the traumatic event
- To eliminate the symptoms of trauma
- To improve day-to-day functioning
- To regain your personal power
- To obtain the skills and tools to prevent an individual from relapsing
If you or a loved one are living with PTSD, anxiety, depression, it’s important that you recognize the symptoms and seek help. Life does not have to continue to be scary or overwhelming. There are strategies that can help you process your pain so that you may continue to live your life full of joy and peace.
If you would like to explore treatment options, please get in touch with me. I would be very happy to help you leave the past in the past and move on to brighter tomorrows.
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