Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelSacha
Relatively straight forward question I think. Just what is it all in all. And more specifically, how is chilhood trauma treated?
|
here where I live and work in New York which is in the USA, Trauma therapy is when you go to a therapist, talk about what happened, and find ways in which that traumatic event wont continue to cause you problems...without retraumatizing
at the crisis center we meet with people who have been sexually abused. we talk with them about what happened, find out what their problems are with that then we set goals that will help ease the flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, depression and other trauma related issues they may be having... sometimes its as simple as having the client journal, sometimes it more complex with teaching the client how to manage their meds, learn techniques that will lessen their anxiety/depression like grounding, relaxation, how to change their negative behaviors that may be leading to self sabotaging and triggering of their problems/healing....
example of how it works here using a traumatic event in my life..
traumatic event ...witness to a murder of a client.
diagnosis ....PTSD
Symptoms....panic attacks, nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts...
treatment ...Traumka therapy
what happened....I was at the ER with a Client when her abuser shot her. (I wont give the details here because I dont want to trigger anyone) I spent the first session with my therapist discussing what happened.
then we set goals that would help me to heal from this..
medication adjustment
keep a daily and nightly journal about any problems I had through out the day and night
grounding.
relaxation/ breathing techniques
positive self talk
learning about guns so that I could see beyond the PTSD symptoms that its not the gun that does harm its what people do with them, this helped to get me past jumping at loud noises and assuming every gun I see would be the one to shoot me type fears.
self defense classes to help gain back a sense of control over my body / mind /self esteem..
go out on the lake in my canoe at least once a day. ...
when intrusive thoughts come up say ...Stop. I am fine. I am ok, its ok to remember what happened, its not ok to dwell so much on it that I am self sabotaging/re-traumatizing myself. its time to move on to healing. lets write this down, take some deep breaths, and then get on with my day. I need to stay focused/ aware and healthy. I write down the intrusive thought and what triggered that thought then move back in to the present moment, not letting myself stay stuck in that past traumatic event.
everyones trauma is different so their healing path for that trauma is going to be different. Some people move through their healing process faster or slower than others.
most treatment programs that I know of for PTSD therapy (some places call it trauma therapy) that are here in the USA dont spend a lot of time in what we call re-traumatizing....going over and over and over and over what happened during the traumatic event. its more focused on how to manage the PTSD symptoms when they happen..if you have anxiety what are ways in which you can help your self not feel anxious, if you have trouble sleeping what are ways that will help you get better sleep, if you are having flashbacks what are ways that will help you get through those flashbacks, if you have depression because of a traumatic event what are ways that will help you alleviate that depression...