TRAUMA HEALING

WHY & HOW PAST EXPERIENCES AFFECT US IN THE PRESENT

When we experience something that is unsettling or disturbing to us, it can be challenging to fully move on after the event.  The effect of these experiences can become “stuck” in our body and brain because of how experiences get stored in our conscious (explicit) and subconscious (implicit) memory.  When an experience gets “stuck,” it often shows up in the present moment through distressing or unpleasant thoughts, images, beliefs, emotions, and body sensations that are similar to what we felt when the unpleasant or distressing event happened.   These symptoms may represent the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses, which are the natural responses our body has to a perceived threat.  This happens because present moment experiences can “trigger” our mind, emotions, and bodies to act as if the upsetting event is happening in the present moment, even if our current environment is safe. 

This is why therapists often encourage clients to take time in therapy to explore past experiences – it provides important puzzle pieces that help us change how we think, feel, and behave in the present and future.  Trauma therapy help get the past and present disturbing events unstuck by replacing the disturbing effects with positive thoughts, images, beliefs, emotions, and body sensations.   The goal of trauma-informed and trauma-focused therapy is to help people experience a positive change in how they think and feel about past and present distressing experiences.  You do not have to have experiences a major traumatic event to benefit from these approaches, in which . Some of the more common issues that can be addressed are anxiety or fear, depression, relationship distress, divorce, life transitions, grief, negative childhood experiences, and other challenging experiences.

ABOUT TRAUMA-FOCUSED THERAPY

We integrate principles from Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and other somatic psychotherapy approaches to trauma healing. The first stages involve determining what present and past events are causing distress, and by identifying the earliest memories you have of feeling the way you do in the present situation.

At the beginning, we teach and practice containment and resource development (resourcing).  Containment is a tool to help you manage distressing thoughts, feelings, or sensations that may come up in daily life and that may come up during the therapy process.  Resourcing is focused on helping you to become better able to “feel the good feelings.”  It involves learning skills to help you better manage stress, feel more strength to cope with challenges, and better able to get back to experiencing positive emotions after something distressing has occurred.  These are skills that we will use in session and between sessions.

The history taking and preparation stages help us decide whether the EMDR Trauma Protocol is likely to be an effective method of therapy for you, or whether other methods may be better able to help you get what you want out of therapy.  Even if we never do the official EMDR “trauma protocol,” the history taking, containment, and resource development processes can greatly help you feel better in your daily life.

Trauma therapy is intended to help reduces the distress caused by difficult experiences, reducing the negative symptoms you experience in relation to the disturbing experience, memory, thoughts, or feelings.  Desensitization helps the brain change the intensity of mental, emotion, and physical reactions to the distressing memory, and helps different parts of the brain communicate in new ways, supporting the development of healthier neural pathways. 

Another focus of trauma therapy (the reprocessing part of EMDR) is to help you embody a new, positive belief system about challenging experiences.  Again, we are not changing the memory itself - we are helping you to develop a more useful, adaptive, and strength-based relationship to the distressing life events.