CHANGING THE WAY WE APPROACH TRAUMA therapy
Trauma is an emotional wound. At first the cut is deep and painful and it seems to affect everything. Over time the wound starts to heal and it may not hurt as often, but a simple brush up against something can trigger that pain again. If we are lucky it fully heals, but a scar may remain.
What happens when the initial wound refuses to go away? It just stings and hurts, and troubles you in daily life?
When we lose someone or something that we love, or another stressful event occurs we lose a sense of our own security. Everything about our environment changes and our first thoughts are fear and danger, instead of love and acceptance.
A constant state of worry, anxiety, and fear may be traumatizing in its own right. Even a harmless event can feel like a serious threat.
During these moments it’s natural to disconnect from reality and from yourself. Everything that is good about the world seems so far away, unattainable. You may find yourself asking the question, “When does it get better? When can I feel safe again?”
Trauma can impact us in a variety of ways from the mind to the body to the spirit. There is no simple cure for it. It takes a high level of understanding and strategies to overcome its effects.
Trauma Does Not Need To Remain Isolated
While so many people experience various forms of trauma throughout their lifetime, it is important to remember that you are not alone. While it may feel normal to isolate or keep in your experiences, often the wounds can get deeper and offer no relief.
You falsely believe that these unfortunate circumstances only happen to you, that you should be ashamed and cover them up, and that there is no form of relief.
It is incorrect.
Trauma involves instances that happened in the past. While they can also define your future, they do not need to. Though it feels overwhelming for us all, when you can embrace previous trauma with a warm, open-minded, and accepting attitude change can occur.
How do you reach this point in your healing? By first establishing a safe environment where you can go to feel comfortable speaking about your past, and finding new methods for a more fulfilling future.
Trauma Impacts Us All
Isolation contributes to a feeling of hopeless and despair - that no one has went through traumatic experiences like your own, and that there is no form of healing.
People tragically experience some extremely unfortunate situations. It is a part of the human experience. Trauma can happen in a variety of ways:
Developmental Trauma: You are very susceptible when you are young. During your childhood or teen years you may have experienced things that radically altered your thinking and feelings. There is help to find reason for why these events occurred, and what you can do about them moving forward.
Family/Cultural Trauma: You are a product of your environment. Though it doesn’t have to completely define you, the powerful forces of the family you were raised in and the neighborhood you grew up in and the world we live in has major influence over your life both past and present.
Relational Trauma: Relationships are a defining point of our existence. We all experience some really good types of relationships, and some really hurtful ones. How do you deal with the latter when it has perhaps made you fearful and distrusting regarding future connections?
Sexual Trauma: You may have been a victim of a sexual encounter that was traumatic. Sexual trauma is a troubling one to deal with because a person is placed in a position of vulnerability and has trouble ever accepting or trusting people again. There are ways to find healing even after the most unfortunate circumstances.
Generational Trauma: You are also a product of the generation you were born and raised in. For example, youngsters that recall September 11, witnessed generational trauma that only people of that timeframe and age group can associate with. The recent series of school shootings are another example of generational trauma that we all share together.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is another example of overwhelming anxiety from previous trauma that has carried over and impacted your life.
How Therapy for Trauma Can Help
Do you feel like a radically different person ever since the trauma occurred? Victims of serious trauma often express a feeling of two different existences. One before, and one after the event happened. If you are experiencing these feelings, please know this is completely normal.
While the original self was free and lived in the moment and enjoyed life, the second is cautious and reserved and mistrusting. The comfortability is gone and you start to wonder if things will ever return to normal.
Life by Design Therapy is a place that cares and we aim to help our clients recover from various forms of traumatic experiences. Our professional therapists have worked with many individuals (couples, families, etc) who have experienced some form of trauma.
Holistic and somatic based therapy for trauma is an option. We help individuals suffering from trauma find real relief and begin the healing process.
If you need support, contact us today for trauma therapy in Berkeley and Richmond, CA.
