What is Trauma Therapy?
Not many of us will get through life without facing our own share of challenges. But some people experience not just stress and anxiety, but actual trauma. Trauma may come in the form of a physically or emotionally abusive relationship, betrayal in a relationship, a car accident, rape, the sudden loss of a loved one, or war.
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, but trauma therapy is really something that can be empowering. With the help of a caring and qualified mental health professional, you can begin to process past events, stripping that traumatic event of its power.
Trauma therapy comes in many forms including but not limited to EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), ETT (emotional transformation therapy) and CPT (cognitive processing therapy). Even though there are many different modalities of trauma therapy they all share the following in common: all trauma therapy has the potential to actually 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 managing trauma triggers
If you or a loved one are living with PTSD, it’s important that you recognize the symptoms and seek help. Life does not have to continue to be scary and overwhelming. There are strategies that can help you process your pain so that you may live your life full of joy and peace.
If you would like to explore treatment options, please contact us at thello@thebtrc.com. We would be happy to help you leave the past in the past and move on to brighter tomorrows.
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