Services | Trauma

What is Trauma?

When a person has experienced, witnessed or was confronted by events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, there is a potential for the event to have become traumatic. It can also occur when there is a threat to one’s physical body such as a diagnosis of cancer or to the person’s perceived sense of self such as loss of a job or an extramarital affair. However, these events alone do not insure that the result is trauma. If the person has a sense of numbing, being in a daze or amnesia, these responses suggest that the person has been traumatized. Trauma is particularly likely if the events are related to changes in moods, self-perception or physical symptoms.

Symptoms of Trauma

If you have some of the following symptoms, you may be experiencing the effects of trauma. There are at least three categories of trauma symptoms that include the following:

1. Avoidance in at least three or more of the following ways
• Persistent avoidance of thoughts, feelings or conversations associated with the events
• Efforts to avoid activities, places or people that remind one of these events
• Inability to recall important aspects of the events
• Reduced interest in significant activities
• Feeling detached or apart from others
• Restricted range of emotional expression
• A sense of a short or gloomy future

2. Persistent re-experiencing of aspects of the trauma in one or more of the following ways:
• Recurrent of distressing memories of the events
• Nightmares
• Acting or feeling as if the events were recurring
• Intense distress when exposed to something that resembles or symbolizes the traumatic events

3. Symptoms of increased tension as indicated by at least two of the following:
• Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
• Irritability
• Difficulty concentrating
• Hypervigelance
• Exaggerating startle response

4. Physical symptoms like chronic pain, digestive distress, heart palpitations, sexual symptoms, etc.

5. Changes in self-perception such as:
• Guilt and responsibility
• Shame
• Seeing oneself as permanently damaged

Types of Trauma

Traumatic experiences can occur within a wide range of circumstances. Research and therapy for trauma originated with victims of war trauma but has now extended to many other circumstances. The following examples do not include all possibilities but provides a basic list:

Most of these traumas involve a shock reaction and either extreme detachment or unbearable emotional pain. This often leads to coping responses like substance abuse, poor relationships choices, self-destructive actions, or an attempt to avoid or isolate. Of course these choices often further complicate these issues. Trauma research concludes that relationship trauma involves the most serious, difficult aspect of trauma. For example, father-daughter incest, domestic violence, or the loss of relationship in natural disasters appears to have the most complex, long-term symptoms. Our treatment leads you to healthier coping and rapid relief of the emotional pain or detachment.

Trauma Conditions

There are four main types of trauma conditions:

• Acute stress disorder concerns a trauma that has recently occurred (within one month). This is most likely to achieve complete recovery. This recovery tendency occurs because people are willing to face the problems before avoidance contributes to worsening the problems.

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) involves symptoms occurring long after a traumatic experience. In these cases avoidance defenses often lead to the person to think they have “put it behind them” when in fact symptoms like nightmares, exaggerated startle responses, flashbacks, anxiety or depression and a feeling of helplessness have occurred. PTSD is now consistently relieved in a relatively short time.

• Secondary or Vicarious PTSD is the same as PTSD except that the person is traumatized by hearing about another person’s trauma. For example, a mother can be traumatized by her daughter’s accident. This can also be relieved fairly consistently.

• Complex trauma (technically called Disorders of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified) referres to experiences of multiple traumas complicated by such things as substance abuse, relationship breakups, eating disorders, etc. This is the most common form of trauma seen in our offices. It is this condition for which we offer the state-of-the-art treatment without medication inmost cases.

State-of-the-Art Trauma Treatment

We offer the newest rapid, long-term form of treatment for trauma. This method of Emotional Transformation Therapy™ (ETT™) uses both compassionate interpersonal support and visual brain stimulation. This approach allows the client to rapidly experience relief of the symptoms for which medication often targets. Therefore, the need for medications is often prevented or eliminated. Treatment initially involves diagnostic processes, reduction of the intensity of symptoms, self-management training and of course emotional support.

Acute stress and PTSD can often be eliminated within a few sessions. However, research has concluded that our early attachment bonds govern our ability to regulate our emotions. Our emotional regulation patterns are largely responsible for whether we experience an event as traumatic or not. Therefore, effective treatment involves correcting deficient patterns of emotional regulation. When this take place there a much better opportunity for long-term change that includes a lower susceptibility to be traumatized again. This work often includes rapid relief of unresolved emotions related to the traumatic events.

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