TRAUMA & PTSD

What is trauma? I often hear clients share confusion surrounding this topic. A trauma is considered any disturbing experience or event that results in a significant disturbance of emotion, thought or behavior as a result. Think of a physical trauma which often can leave a person with long-lasting negative effects on the body. The same can be experienced from a psychologically traumatic disturbance. What may be traumatic to one person may not be so to another.

Our brain is built to help us survive things we perceive as traumatic, often reverting to primal instincts of fight, flight or freeze. Though each of us has the same mechanisms in place to help us survive, each of us may perceive and then process information in the brain differently. 

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Just as a person would begin physical therapy to heal from a traumatic injury, so does a person require psychotherapy to heal from the trauma in the mind. This healing process helps to manage emotions, body sensations, memories and thoughts. 

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the result of trauma that continues to be unprocessed and serving to cause dysfunction in a person's daily life in many different areas. It is important to note that you can have experienced a traumatizing event but not be experiencing PTSD. 

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Evidenced based treatment forms that are highly effective for the treatment of trauma are EMDR, Trauma-Focused CBT, and Exposure Therapy.

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Click below to explore the symptoms of PTSD.