Trauma Therapy in Pasadena, MD
Where healing brings hope
Trauma therapy
Do you find yourself reacting in ways that are not typical for you? Are you feeling overcome with fear and panic or sadness and loss of hope for yourself? Have these feelings, thoughts, and behaviors happened after a traumatic experience?
Trauma can be a devastating experience for individuals and their families. Coping with traumatic events can be a challenging process, but trauma therapy can offer assistance in recovering from these experiences. Trauma therapy is a type of psychotherapy that helps people to explore, understand, and move past the difficult emotions associated with traumatic situations. It is an effective way of finding resolutions to the physical and emotional effects of trauma on an individual’s life.
Trauma is not a one size fits all experience. In the trauma field we recognize that there are small trauma’s and Big Trauma’s that impact each person uniquely. Given our environment, our upbringing, our levels of coping, each traumatic experience may or may not lead to concerning symptoms. But when it does, no matter how big or small, trauma therapy can help.
Therapy for Trauma can help you have deeper connections
Do you feel like your friendships and intimate relationships are difficult to navigate? Are you finding it a challenge to trust and/or accept that the other person truly cares for you?
Trauma deeply affects our relationships within the world. We see things in different ways that our friends or partners don’t see. They often don’t understand why we react the way we do towards them; often leading to painful misunderstandings and reactions.
Trauma is a difficult experience that can cause lasting psychological and emotional damage. It can have a profound impact on one’s relationships and sense of self, leading to feelings of isolation, mistrust, and confusion. Fortunately, there are effective treatments available for those who have experienced trauma, such as trauma therapy.
Trauma can have a long-lasting, devastating effect on an individual’s mental health and well-being. Fortunately, various forms of trauma therapy can help those who have experienced trauma move forward in their lives. Trauma therapy helps people understand how their experiences have impacted them, assists in developing skills to cope with difficult emotions, and ultimately works to heal the wounds caused by traumatic events.
There are different types of trauma therapy that help in the healing process.
Over the years trauma therapy has evolved to include more than traditional talk therapy. We now know that trauma healing works best with approaches that focus on healing the body from within which then alters the way we think about our trauma.
Somatic therapies like Brainspotting, EMDR, dance movement, sensorimotor, and yoga have proven to be important in the healing process. Through body awareness, internal resourcing, and mindfulness interventions, the body begins to heal itself from the trauma.
Trauma Therapy FAQ’s
What should I look for in a trauma therapist?
Trauma therapists should not only be trauma-informed but have had additional knowledge about trauma.
Trauma therapy therapists should assess your safety while also providing a safe place for your to begin the work. They should be assessing for your ability to engage in the deeper work consistently and not just in the beginning. Trauma therapists should ensure that you have the appropriate resources to begin the work such as proper grounding skills, supports, strategies outside of session (coping skills), and enough self-awareness to be able to apply skills when needed.
There are some resources available wher eyou can search specifically for a trauma therapist via the trauma therapist network.
How do I know if what I am experiencing is trauma?
Unfortunately you won’t know until you begin this work unless its really clear that this incident equals these symptoms (and in most instances its not always clear). Many of the symptoms of trauma overlap with other diagnoses or illnesses. A good trauma therapy therapist will partner with you in becoming a detective towards understanding your symptoms better.
Will I have to relive my experience?
Absolutely not. Many years ago this was the primary approach to addressing trauma. We now know that trauma therapy approaches don’t require you to relive your traumatic experience; and it can be more damaging to do so.
What does a trauma therapy session look like?
Initially therapy for trauma will start with building a relationship with you as the client. The first phase of any trauma work is having a relationship where you can be vunerable, this will include basic and more advanced resourcing skills, understanding things like family of origin or cultural factors, gaining a better understanding of who you are through your eyes.
As the therapy progresses and depending on the therapists trauma style, you will begin the deeper work of healing those wounds from your trauma.
Throughout the process a therapist will focus on ensuring you have strong supports as well as using your resources and strategies to navigate difficult or challenging emotions.
Trauma therapy is not a linear process so there is often alot of re-education throughout the trauma process.
Does this mean I have PTSD?
Not necessarily. PTSD is a very specific diagnosis where specific symptoms must be met to be diagnosed. Unfortunately trauma symptoms can fit a variety of different diagnoses.