Trauma

Trauma

Many people will experience a Traumatic Event and seek a way to find relief. For Physical Trauma, such as what happens to our bodies when we have been injured in an accident, it is quite obvious that most of us will visit the hospital or a doctor to get assistance. When the Trauma is of a Psychological nature, it is less clear about how to seek help, whether to seek help, or where to turn for help.

Trauma is most often ‘recorded’ in our brains and our bodies when we have been involved in an event where we experienced a loss of control and thus, an inability to take action that might have kept ourselves or someone else safe. Examples of this might be a car accident, physical/emotional/sexual abuse, victim of a crime, bullying in the workplace, repetitive discrimination, witnessing abuse, and many other situations. This understanding of Trauma allows us to explain why one person may be quite ‘Traumatized’ by an event, while someone else will experience it as a ‘minor blip’ and seems to carry on quite quickly, with very little interruption to wellness. It is not the Event that determines whether Trauma will be registered in the brain and body, it is the person’s Experience of the Event, which will ultimately control how that Event affects his or her life.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a term applied to the experience of someone who is struggling with the feelings and emotions related to surviving a traumatic event or events, long after the physical danger may have passed. Post Traumatic Stress can result in continuously reliving upsetting thoughts related to the stressful event and without skilled, professional assistance, the suffering can be tremendous and take a huge toll on people’s lives. PTSD is a close relative of Anxiety Disorders and may respond well to Anti-Anxiety medications, as well as Counselling, designed to relieve Anxiety symptoms.

Counselling can help resolve the negative effects of Trauma and get people back on a healthier, more peaceful track in their lives. There are several counselling approaches that have been proven to be helpful in resolving Trauma, including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), Mindfulness Approaches, Attachment Theory, and others. It is important that you seek out a therapist who has sufficient training and experience in supporting clients dealing with Trauma, and ensure that you feel very comfortable with the person you choose to work with. Most of all, you want to seek the services of someone who is kind, compassionate, and empathetic, and can assure you of the kind of skill building and healing that will allow you to be released from your suffering.