
Trauma
Let’s get real about trauma.
What if you could…
Understand your emotions
Learn strategies to manage trauma responses
Lessen dependence on substances
Re-establish important relationships
Develop skills to establish boundaries
Increase your sense of safety and sense of self
Decrease trauma stress symptoms
Trust yourself again
Do you struggle with…
Being easily startled or frightened
Always being on guard for danger
Self-destructive behavior
Trouble sleeping or concentrating
Emotional outbursts
Overwhelming guilt or shame
Upsetting dreams/nightmares
Negative thoughts about yourself, other people or the world
Hopelessness about the future
Memory deficiencies
Difficulty maintaining close relationships
Feeling detached from family and friends
Lack of interest in activities you once enjoyed
Difficulty experiencing positive emotions
Feeling emotionally numb
Survivor guilt or shame
Managing trauma is possible.
70 percent of adults have experienced trauma. You are not alone. Trauma is often a response to abuse (childhood, sexual, physical, emotional, passive), neglect, grief/loss, war, violence (including community violence), accidents, natural disasters, medical interventions, growing up in the foster system, and more.
46 percent of those entering therapy feel emotional relief within 6 weeks.
How can therapy help anyway?
Spoken Balance is committed to providing exceptional care in whatever capacity is most comfortable for our clients. Therapy can be an intimate, fun, engaging process where clients face their vulnerabilities and successes boldly. Spoken Balance will walk alongside you in healing life conflict.
The most common approach to treating trauma can be behavior therapy such as a blend of EMDR, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and prolonged exposure therapy, Spoken Balance can help manage the gritty emotions through a non-judgmental, culturally competent, person centered approach.
Trauma is treatable.
The approach and treatment of trauma is not a universal, one-size-fits-all approach. However, some common approaches can include:
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) | These practices are easy to adapt based on need and help bring immediate relief of symptoms without any specialized equipment.
Behavior Therapy | Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common approach to treating trauma which provides a safe and validating experience.
Medication | Some people may need medication to help supplement talk therapy in actively treating anxiety. That is okay. It is also okay if you prefer not to utilize medication.
Wellness | Often, clients report success with yoga, acupuncture, grounding techniques and other holistic approaches to supplement treatment.
EMDR
EMDR is a structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and PTSD symptoms. Ongoing research supports positive clinical outcomes showing EMDR therapy as a helpful treatment for disorders such as anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, addictions, and other distressing life experiences (from EMDRIA.com, 11/07/2022)..
The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs/Dept. of Defense, The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the World Health Organization among many other national and international organizations recognize EMDR therapy as an effective treatment. More specific information on treatment guidelines can be found on our EMDR and PTSD page (from EMDRIA.com, 11/07/2022)..
How is EMDR therapy different from other therapies?
EMDR therapy does not require talking in detail about the distressing issue or completing homework between sessions. EMDR therapy, rather than focusing on changing the emotions, thoughts, or behaviors resulting from the distressing issue, allows the brain to resume its natural healing process.
EMDR therapy is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain. For many clients, EMDR therapy can be completed in fewer sessions than other psychotherapies.
How does EMDR therapy affect the brain?
Our brains have a natural way to recover from traumatic memories and events. This process involves communication between the amygdala (the alarm signal for stressful events), the hippocampus (which assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger), and the prefrontal cortex (which analyzes and controls behavior and emotion). While many times traumatic experiences can be managed and resolved spontaneously, they may not be processed without help (from EMDRIA.com, 11/07/2022).
Stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight, or freeze instincts. When distress from a disturbing event remains, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create an overwhelming feeling of being back in that moment, or of being “frozen in time.” EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories, and allows normal healing to resume. The experience is still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response from the original event is resolved (from EMDRIA.com, 11/07/2022).
Reach out to Spoken Balance — your modern therapist.
Photo by Yasin Yusuf on Unsplash | downloaded March 12, 2021