What is trauma?
Trauma is a word that that refers to a spectrum of diagnoses; the most well known being Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. However broadly speaking, Trauma refers to a single or series of events that happened in the past that continue to affect us negatively for a long time afterwards. Trauma and traumatic experiences result from highly stressful events that shatter a person’s sense of safety, security and serenity. In many cases, trauma renders one helpless and vulnerable or hardened and volatile in a world perceived as dangerous.
Exposure to these highly stressful experiences can change the way a person’s brain and body respond to threatening stimuli. Traumatized individuals get “stuck” in the “fight-or-flight” system of their body, making even a minimally stressful event or situation very difficult to manage. This can contribute to mood changes, acting-out behaviors, or difficulty navigating through day to day responsibilities.
Some of the more well known symptoms of trauma can be: Panic attacks, constant background anxiety, nightmares, a constant sense of shame, or sense of numbness or spacing out.
There are also a lot of symptoms that could be related to a traumatic experience that many do not consider: Trouble concentrating, aggression, avoidance, substance abuse, agitation, poor decision making, or impulsivity
“From my vantage point as a researcher we know that the impact of trauma is upon the survival or animal part of the brain. That means that our automatic danger signals are disturbed, and we become hyper- or hypo-active: aroused or numbed out. We become like frightened animals. We cannot reason ourselves out of being frightened or upset”.
“Of course, talking can be very helpful in acknowledging the reality about what’s happened and how it’s affected you, but talking about it doesn’t put it behind you because it doesn’t go deep enough into the survival brain”.
– Dr.Bessel Van der Kolk; Considered the foremost expert on trauma in the world.
Strive uses a trauma-informed lens to identify the source of negative feelings or functioning and uses specific techniques and modalities to strengthen coping skills, regulate your body and emotions, and help you heal from your traumatic experience(s). Our therapists have had extensive training and hold specializations in very effective modalities for treating trauma and related symptoms.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
EMDR is an entire therapy model that has been proven to be highly effective for those who have experienced trauma.
EMDR therapy is founded on the basis that our emotional well-being is interwoven with our physical (somatic) state. Therefore, EMDR employs a body-based technique called bilateral simulation during which a therapist will guide a client through through eye movements, tones, or taps in order to move a memory that has been incorrectly stored to a more functional part of the brain.
During trauma our brain processes and stores memories incorrectly. This incorrect storage can lead to past memories feeling very present. Related or unrelated stimuli in the present can lead to clients reacting as they did at the time of trauma. The brain feels if the past disturbing event is happening currently.
EMDR therapy corrects this mis-storage so that the painful memories associated with the trauma lose their charge. The client can react to stimuli in the present without the past interfering.
EMDR is also very effective to treat other non-trauma related disorders including anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and more, by helping to reprocess negative belief patterns that keep us stuck.
Find out more about EMDR HERE
ART (Accelerated Resolution Therapy)
ART is an exposure–based cognitive psychotherapy that fosters rapid recovery by reprogramming how the brain stores traumatic memories and imagery. This approach provides effective relief from the strong physical and emotional reactions associated with traumatic events with client seeing symptom reduction in as little as one session. It is also proven effective with the treatment of anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders.
TF-CBT (Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
TF-CBT is an evidence-based treatment approach shown to help children, adolescents, and their parents (or other caregivers) overcome trauma-related difficulties. It is designed to reduce negative emotional and behavioral responses following trauma, including child sexual abuse and other maltreatment, domestic violence, traumatic loss, mass disasters, multiple traumas, and other traumatic events.
The treatment addresses distorted or upsetting beliefs and attributions related to the traumas and provides a supportive environment in which children are encouraged to talk about their traumatic experiences and learn skills to help them cope with ordinary life stressors. TF-CBT also helps parents cope effectively with their own emotional distress and develop
skills that support their children.
Learn more about TF-CBT HERE