“The impact of trauma can be subtle, insidious, and outright destructive…affecting one’s beliefs about the future via loss of hope, limited expectations about life, fear that life will end abruptly or early, or anticipation that normal life events won’t occur.”
– Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services
– Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services
What is trauma?
The word “trauma” brings about different thoughts and feelings for most people. The initial and long-term reaction to trauma involves a few different pieces: belief system prior to the traumatic event, the actual event, your support system, your coping skills, and your ability to make sense of the event. This event (one-time or repeated) can include sexual abuse/assault, natural disasters, motor vehicle accidents, and acts of violence. Furthermore, trauma responses can occur when you witness a traumatic event, especially if that event involves someone close to you.
Why do I feel this way?
The body reacts to the mind and the mind reacts to the body, especially when your sense of safety is disrupted. Traumatic events have the capability to shake you to the core, meaning that your intense negative emotions (e.g., shame, guilt, sadness, anger, fear, anxiety, hyperarousal, etc.) can contribute to strong physiological responses. These responses include but are not limited to chest pain, chronic headaches, gastrointestinal difficulties, non-epileptic events, and sleep disturbances. These mental and physical symptoms can feel constant, or they can ‘go away’ and resurface when you’re triggered.
What are triggers?
Triggers normally involve your five senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, or touch. When triggered, you can experience a flashback, which feels as if you’re reliving the event. The trigger can then contribute to intrusive thoughts, intense emotions, a fight/flight/freeze response, and physiological symptoms.
The Avoidance Trap
Won’t avoidance eventually help me ‘forget’ what happened to me?
There are only so many times that you can sweep dirt under a rug until the pile is so big that it spills out. Once avoided triggers and emotions spill out, you may find that multiple areas of your life feel disrupted due to the exhausting attempt to avoid the pain. Avoiding triggers only perpetuates the cycle of symptoms and responses. Avoiding the feelings and telling yourself to stop thinking about the trauma only gives power to the event.
Where do I begin?
The best place to begin is to connect with a therapist who is trauma-informed and practices evidence-based treatment. Trauma-informed care means that you are working with a therapist who understands the impact of trauma and cares about safely helping you through your journey towards healing. There are several evidence-based treatment’s that are geared towards treating survivors of trauma. They encompass themes of educating, facing, reframing, accepting, committing, and healing while learning how to reduce reactivity and rebuild trust.
The word “trauma” brings about different thoughts and feelings for most people. The initial and long-term reaction to trauma involves a few different pieces: belief system prior to the traumatic event, the actual event, your support system, your coping skills, and your ability to make sense of the event. This event (one-time or repeated) can include sexual abuse/assault, natural disasters, motor vehicle accidents, and acts of violence. Furthermore, trauma responses can occur when you witness a traumatic event, especially if that event involves someone close to you.
Why do I feel this way?
The body reacts to the mind and the mind reacts to the body, especially when your sense of safety is disrupted. Traumatic events have the capability to shake you to the core, meaning that your intense negative emotions (e.g., shame, guilt, sadness, anger, fear, anxiety, hyperarousal, etc.) can contribute to strong physiological responses. These responses include but are not limited to chest pain, chronic headaches, gastrointestinal difficulties, non-epileptic events, and sleep disturbances. These mental and physical symptoms can feel constant, or they can ‘go away’ and resurface when you’re triggered.
What are triggers?
Triggers normally involve your five senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, or touch. When triggered, you can experience a flashback, which feels as if you’re reliving the event. The trigger can then contribute to intrusive thoughts, intense emotions, a fight/flight/freeze response, and physiological symptoms.
The Avoidance Trap
Won’t avoidance eventually help me ‘forget’ what happened to me?
There are only so many times that you can sweep dirt under a rug until the pile is so big that it spills out. Once avoided triggers and emotions spill out, you may find that multiple areas of your life feel disrupted due to the exhausting attempt to avoid the pain. Avoiding triggers only perpetuates the cycle of symptoms and responses. Avoiding the feelings and telling yourself to stop thinking about the trauma only gives power to the event.
Where do I begin?
The best place to begin is to connect with a therapist who is trauma-informed and practices evidence-based treatment. Trauma-informed care means that you are working with a therapist who understands the impact of trauma and cares about safely helping you through your journey towards healing. There are several evidence-based treatment’s that are geared towards treating survivors of trauma. They encompass themes of educating, facing, reframing, accepting, committing, and healing while learning how to reduce reactivity and rebuild trust.