What is Trauma?
Any kind of emotional response to a terrible event like an accident or natural disaster is called trauma. Almost half of the population goes through at least one traumatic experience in their lifetime.
The long-term negative consequences of trauma survivors may be dangerous. The long-term consequences include psychological, physical, social, financial, and occupational malfunctioning.
What is Trauma Therapy?
Trauma therapy, also known as trauma-informed therapy or care, concentrates on aiding individuals in managing the emotional aftermath of a traumatic event. It aims to reduce or ideally eliminate the effects of traumatization through treatment.
Types of Trauma Therapies
Some types of therapies can help treat trauma situations. Given below are some of the types of trauma therapies that may be used to help you overcome trauma-related problems and treat post-traumatic stress disorder:
- Prolonged Exposure (PE): In this type of therapy you are exposed to the original source of your fear for the time until you are not afraid of it anymore.
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT): In this type of therapy you are challenging your thoughts about the reasons the trauma event happening and the doctor will also get into the beliefs that have formed after either individual or group therapy sessions.
- Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT): This kind of therapy is done when trauma events are happening with kids and teens. In this therapy, the incorrect beliefs and unhealthy behaviors are taken out by physicians.
Both PE and CPT are the main treatments for trauma because of the research evidence that demonstrates their effectiveness.
Time To Complete Trauma Therapies
The time to complete both of these therapies (PE and CPT) is up to 4 months, which is relatively short compared with the suffering people have to face.
The experience of actual trauma may or may not be necessary when it comes to CPT. It can be helpful not to have the experience of actual trauma because sometimes you don’t remember the actual trauma or you don’t want to discuss it.
TRAUMA TECHNIQUES
There are various natures of therapies that can help treat trauma. Some of the techniques your therapist might use may include;
- Imaginal Exposure: In this technique, you describe the trauma to your therapist loudly after you have imagined it. This technique helps you face it even when you are trying to avoid your thoughts and memories related to the trauma that you have faced.
- In Vivo Exposure: It consists of real-life situations. In this exposure therapy technique, you approach the situations that you were trying to avoid because of the trauma.
- Written Account: In this method, you write a descriptive account of trauma that you have experienced.
- Impact Statement: Impact statement is a common CPT technique in which you write an impact statement that explains the reasons for the occurrence of the traumatic event and how it has impacted your life.
5. Cognitive Restructuring Strategies: In this technique, you restructure your unhelpful thoughts into helpful thoughts.
What Trauma Therapy Can Help With?
No matter if the traumatic event was one-time or continuous long-lasting, trauma therapy can help you deal with it.
Some types of trauma that therapy of this kind can address include the following;
- Abuse
- Accidents
- Crime
- Abandonment
- Divorce
- Death of a loved one
- Illness
- Homelessness
- Injury
- Natural disasters
- Racism
- Terrorism
- Sexual assault
- witnessing an accident
Benefits of Trauma Therapy
Trauma therapy is useful in addressing the traumatic event and processing your feelings and emotions associated with it. It provides you an opportunity to tackle your fears in a safe space and understand them so that you can function properly on a day-to-day basis in your normal routine.
- Reduce Fear and Avoidance
Trauma comes with fear and results in widening places people or things that remind you of the same experience again, and it can make it difficult for you to function properly. For example, a person who got injured in a car accident on the freeway may avoid driving on freeways or may not utilize a car at all again.
- Improve Coping Skills
There are some strong beliefs associated with problematic trauma-related issues for example; “I am unable to cope with it”, however, trauma therapy can help prepare you with confidence and the skills you need to function properly and cope with trauma.
- Build Trust
Sometimes traumatic events will result in a change in your sense of safety and Trust. As a result, you don’t trust others as much as you used to. However, with therapy from the Olympic Addiction Treatment Center, it may change to trust others.
- Take on Problematic Beliefs
Some events may result in the development of thought patterns which are problematic and it may be about yourself or about people around you. Trauma therapy can help you cope with it.
- Offer Validation
Sometimes people around you will verbally abuse and blame you after you have disclosed the trauma situation to them. You are told repeatedly that the emotions, characteristics, and reactions are unacceptable and unreasonable. A situation like this will result in a further increase in trauma-related mishaps. However, Therapists will validate your experience and will offer you the acceptance and understanding that you need.
How to Get Started?
If life has brought you any form of trauma that you want to seek treatment for, look for a psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist who specializes in trauma therapy center like Olympic drug rehab in West Palm Beach, FL.
It is important to work with a therapist who has a deep understanding of the effects of Oppression, inequality, and discrimination and can help show competence in discussing racial trauma, racism, cultural issues, and historical trauma. We at Olympic Addiction Treatment Center have it.
