Those who have experienced trauma can be deeply distressed and experience mental illness, physical ailments, and damaged relationships. Therapy is the most commonly used method to help individuals heal from trauma. There are many therapy techniques that are used by our therapists at Red Willow Counseling and Recovery that are effective in helping individuals towards healing. This blog will explore the benefits of therapy for trauma and how it will help those who are victims of abuse, neglect, or other trauma.
What Is Trauma?
Before we talk about how trauma can affect people and how you can heal, it is crucial to understand what trauma is and how it affects the brain and body. Trauma does not just refer to an event, but it also refers to how the person responds to the event. Both emotional and psychological responses are taken into account when looking at a person who experiences a traumatic event.
When someone experiences trauma, they will go into survival mode and the brain will release a stress hormone. This can often result in the fight or flight response or can cause a person to dissociate, or block out the event. While the body tries to protect itself during the abuse or trauma, it can cause long-term problems if not treated properly. Prolonged trauma, especially childhood trauma, can result in severe mental illness and physical manifestations.
How Can Trauma Manifest?
For individuals who have had a traumatic event, there are many reactions and manifestations the body can have. Physical, emotional, and mental responses are all common for trauma patients.
Trauma can manifest in mental illnesses like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), and emotional dysregulation. These illnesses can include intrusive thoughts, disconnected emotions, and amnesia about the events that occurred.
Trauma patients can also experience weakened trust that can lead to relationship struggles. Trauma can lead to the person seeking isolation or forming unhealthy relationships just to feel “normal.” Self-negative talk can also impact a person’s self-esteem and how they process relationship affection. People can be self-critical or will have a hard time accepting love from others. Therapy for trauma can help you break down these issues and help make you a more confident and trusting person.
Techniques Used In Therapy For Trauma
Therapy is a tool that will help patients understand emotions, work through pain, and regain a sense of control. There are many therapy techniques that include talking, meditation, and medication to aid in the healing process. Here are a couple of trauma therapies that are effective for those who have experienced a traumatic event.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)
A newer therapy for trauma approach is Accelerated Resolution Therapy. This therapy is proven to help patients with PTSD, Phobias, Depression, and Grief. This therapy approach involves replacing negative images with positive ones. A therapist will help guide the patient to replace triggers or memories with more positive images. This will limit nightmares, flashbacks, and intrusive thoughts.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive-behavioral therapy combines two psychological theories, Emotional Processing Theory and Social Cognitive Theory. Emotional Processing Theory involves the thought that the traumatic event can be reframed to seem less scary. Changing responses and triggers to the event will help to change the unhealthy functioning of patients.
Social cognitive theory suggests that patients who try to incorporate the experience of the trauma into their beliefs can help them understand the experience in a healthier way. For example, if someone thinks that bad things happen to bad people, and being abused or raped makes them bad, the situation can be reframed so the patient understands they were unjustly violated.
CBT often uses exposure to the emotions or reminders of the trauma to help them heal. These are done in a controlled setting to help the person feel safe while helping them learn they do have the ability to cope. This is a therapy for trauma because it helps you face your fears in a healthy way and overcome them without needing outside factors.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
This is a specialized therapy that helps patients process traumatic memories and reduce emotional charges. Therapists do this through guided rapid eye movements that help the patient focus on memories, current triggers, and future goals. The rapid eye movements help improve memory and eliminate problematic physical symptoms.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy is often used for patients who have experienced immense trauma or dissociation. It is used to help regulate emotions so patients can understand how the trauma has affected them. Navigating strong emotions while dealing with PTSD or other mental illnesses can be difficult, so DBT can improve your emotional capacity.
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)
IFS focuses on our internal sense of Self that makes us who we truly are. Our other Parts fit into three categories; Exiles, Managers, and Firefighters. These parts carry the pain of the trauma and the trauma itself. These parts protect us from pain and resort to extreme measures to protect against pain when the Exiles break through the Managers’ defenses. The patient will learn more about their Self and connect with their inner consciousness.
Mindfulness-Based Therapies
Practices like mindfulness and meditation can help calm those with extreme stress. They promote self-compassion, emotional regulation, stress reduction, and communication. Although mindfulness is not a therapy for trauma, per se, practicing mindfulness can be combined with other therapy techniques and medication to help you achieve well-rounded healing.
Other Forms Of Healing Obtained From Therapy
There are other ways that therapy can improve your life and help you process your trauma. Helping you heal is the goal of therapy so that you can gain more control of your life. Here are some additional items you can obtain from proper therapy:
- Validation
- Emotional regulations
- Coping skills
- Healthier relationships
- Limit negative thoughts
- Improved self-esteem
- Deal with triggers in a healthy way
- Accept their pain
- Learn from the past and implement better practices in the future
- A positive outlook on life
