Trauma Counseling in Atlanta and Roswell
Trauma
Trauma – the word itself even sounds scary and overwhelming. But what exactly is trauma? How do I know if my experiences were indeed traumatic and are negatively impacting my life today? And what can be done?
Simply put, trauma is a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. Trauma can be a single event such as natural disasters, accidents, witnessing violence or death, relational betrayal, or grief and loss. Trauma can also occur over time as in the cases of childhood abuse or neglect, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and other distressing circumstances.
After a traumatic event, some people experience a great deal of distress: guilt, shame, anxiety, anger, self-blame, hopelessness, feeling numb, mood swings, or a feeling of being disconnected. Others experience shock and denial, not realizing that they have experienced trauma for many years.
The stress of trauma affects all aspects of a person’s life, including their mental, emotional, and physical well-being, which makes coping with the trauma difficult. Regardless of how trauma has affected you, therapy can help. People can, and do, recover from trauma. At Restorative Counseling Services, we help clients make sense of what happened, process emotions and memories about the trauma, create healthier and more adaptive meanings about what took place, and ultimately live a life free from the effects of the trauma.
Reach Out to Us: Book Now in Atlanta or Roswell
Our team at Restorative Counseling Services understands how the effects of trauma can keep you from enjoying life to the fullest and we will journey with you to overcome them. We provide a safe and nonjudgmental space for you to discuss your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. We recognize that everyone has their own specific needs, and our team will create a specific, tailor-made approach to aid in your recovery. Please reach out to us if you think that past or current trauma may be impacting your life.
Treatment for Trauma
If you’ve lived through a traumatic event or a series of traumas, there is hope. Effective, compassionate therapies have been developed that are proven to alleviate the impacts of trauma and restore physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Therapy helps a great deal and is necessary to comprehensively treat the effects of trauma. Some people find that medication is also helpful. It is best to see a psychiatrist when seeking medication for a mental health issue, and our therapists help clients connect with our recommended trauma-informed psychiatrists that can be a part of their care team.
At Restorative Counseling Services, we are committed to providing evidence-based, gold standard trauma therapy. Living through trauma is hard – getting the help you deserve shouldn’t be. All of our therapists are trauma-informed, meaning we understand how trauma impacts the body and mind, and how the effects of trauma show up in the therapy. When looking at the research and evaluating proven methods for treating trauma, we highly recommend a trauma treatment called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an extensively researched and effective form of psychotherapy that “enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.”* Unlike traditional talk therapy, which can take years to treat trauma, EMDR has been proven to treat trauma, including PTSD, in a relatively short period of time. Studies show that clients with PTSD experience significant improvement and a remission of symptoms after 3-12 EMDR sessions. EMDR does not require clients to talk about the trauma in detail or do any homework in between sessions, which is a great relief to many trauma survivors.
EMDR involves the reprocessing of trauma-related memories, thoughts and feelings. The EMDR International Association offers a description of how EMDR therapy affects the brains and treats trauma:
“Our brains have a natural way to recover from traumatic memories and events. This process involves communication between the amygdala (the alarm signal for stressful events), the hippocampus (which assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger), and the prefrontal cortex (which analyzes and controls behavior and emotion). While many times traumatic experiences can be managed and resolved spontaneously, they may not be processed without help.
Stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight, or freeze instincts. When distress from a disturbing event remains, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create feelings of being overwhelmed, of being back in that moment, or of being ‘frozen in time’. EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories and allows normal healing to resume. The experience is still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response from the original event is resolved.”**
Whether you have experienced an acute trauma like a car accident, or grew up in an abusive household, EMDR therapy can treat the symptoms of trauma that are making life difficult and help move you into a future uninterrupted by the trauma of the past. Several Restorative therapists have been trained and are experienced in EMDR. Rebecca Capistrant, APC; Jacqueline Conway, APC, REAT; and Alexis Navarro, APC, all utilize EMDR to help their clients make sense of their trauma and live lives free from the long-term effects of trauma.
In addition to offering traditional 50-minute EMDR sessions, Restorative therapists also offer EMDR intensives. Intensives are EMDR sessions that last 3+ hours at a time and allow for more reprocessing to happen at one time rather than spreading the sessions out over several weeks. Many clients find intensives to be helpful because it allows them to address the trauma in a more focused, targeted fashion. After an initial intake session, your trauma therapist will be able to let you know if EMDR is the appropriate therapy for your concern and if an intensive may be a good option.
Symptoms of Trauma
When left untreated, trauma can cause severe amounts of stress and make living incredibly difficult. Since trauma impacts our bodies, emotions, behaviors, relationships, thought life, and spirituality, addressing trauma is of the utmost importance.
Below are some of the most common symptoms of trauma:
Physical
• Pounding heart
• Upset stomach
• Muffled hearing
• Frequent headaches
• Insomnia or hypersomnia
• Lethargy
• Gastrointestinal issues
• Changes in appetite
• Chronic pain
Relational
• Withdrawing
• Feeling easily hurt
• Avoiding intimacy
• Lashing out
• Distrust of others
Emotional
• Feeling numb or shut down
• Irritability
• Helplessness
• Being anxious or fearful
• Depressed
• Panic
• Rage
• Low self-esteem
Cognitive
• Feeling “spacey”
• Difficulty making decisions
• Difficulty remembering things
• Inability to stop thinking about the trauma
• Inflexible thinking
Behavioral
• Excessive use of alcohol or drugs
• Over-involvement in work
• Easily startled
• Risky behaviors
• Isolation
• Difficulty paying attention
Spiritual
• Questioning long-held beliefs about the world
• Losing purpose and meaning
Types of Trauma
Descriptions and categories around trauma can be helpful and even validating. The possible risk in creating categories is that someone might be experiencing trauma symptoms, but think their experience was not “bad enough” or doesn’t fit a particular list of criteria and therefore isn’t considered a trauma. While there are some events we would all identify as trauma (rape, being held at gunpoint, etc.), there are other scenarios that may have a traumatic effect on one person but not another.
For example, childhood bullying may profoundly impact a person’s sense of self, safety, and well-being. She may avoid school at all costs, dream about the relentless teasing, and believe she brings the bullying on herself because she is just so unlikeable. Another person may also experience bullying, but not experience any of the symptoms listed above. When reading the descriptions of types of trauma below, it is important to keep in mind that trauma affects people differently and symptoms manifest uniquely
Acute Trauma
An acute trauma is considered a single event that has a relatively clear beginning or end, such as experiencing a natural disaster or a serious car accident. However, a single event trauma does not mean a less significant trauma. An acute trauma can have a profound impact on a person’s view of the world, themselves, and their overall sense of meaning, purpose and safety. Though the event itself may have a clear beginning and end, to a person’s brain and body it might feel like the trauma has never stopped.
People who have experienced an acute trauma often exhibit the following symptoms:
• Avoiding anything that might remind them of the trauma
• Difficulty remembering things
• Emotions such as fear, anger, guilt, or shame
• Negative beliefs about self
• Feeling irritable or “on edge”
• Trouble sleeping or eating
• Difficulty feeling at rest or at ease
Although an acute trauma can be incredibly impactful to a person, research shows that the earlier someone participates in therapy after a traumatic event occurs, the less likely the person is to experience long-term or destructive side effects from the trauma.
Complex Trauma
A number of traumas occurring over a period of time is termed complex trauma. Examples of this include persistent neglect or abuse from a caregiver, repeated exposures to domestic violence, chronic poverty, or multiple traumatic combat experiences and more.
A person who has experienced complex trauma might experience the following:
A profound sense of powerlessness or helplessness
Difficulty developing and maintaining healthy relationships
Frequently feeling triggered or having reactions that feel “out of control”
Trouble feeling a sense of meaning or purpose
Lacking a true sense of who they are
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
When trauma survivors experience a combination of the above symptoms above for more than 1 month after the trauma, they can be diagnosed with PTSD. If a person presents with these symptoms 3 days to 1 month after the event, they will be diagnosed with Acute Stress Disorder.
Symptoms of PTSD are grouped into four categories:
Intrusion
The re-experiencing of the trauma via nightmares or daytime flashbacks
Recurrent and unwanted distressing memories, thoughts, and images of the traumatic event
Emotional distress or physical reactions to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event(s)
Cognitive and Mood
Negative beliefs about yourself, other people, or the world in general, including erroneous self-blame or blaming others for the trauma
Persistent negative emotions (including fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame) and inability to experience positive emotions (such as the inability to experience happiness, satisfaction, or love)
Memory difficulties, including not remembering important aspects of the trauma
Lack of interest in activities you once enjoyed
Feeling detached and estranged from others
Avoidance
Trying to avoid thinking or talking about the traumatic event
Avoiding people, places, situations, or activities that remind you of the traumatic event
Arousal
Irritability, anger, or aggressive outbursts
Being easily startled or frightened
Always being on guard for danger
Difficulty falling or staying asleep
Self-destructive behavior
When Trauma is Left Untreated
Even for the 80% of Americans who endure a trauma but do not develop PTSD, there are still large impacts from the trauma on their well-being. You do not need to meet the full criteria for PTSD in order to need help after experiencing trauma. And just because you do not develop PTSD does not mean that trauma was not impactful. Seeking help is key in moving forward and restoring a strong sense of well-being after living through trauma, regardless of a formal PTSD diagnosis or not.
Trauma is a risk factor for nearly all behavioral health issues and substance use disorders. The emotional, mental, and physical pain of trauma can range from uncomfortable to life threatening when trauma is left untreated.
Drugs or alcohol are often used as coping mechanisms in an attempt to relieve the impacts of trauma. But alcohol and drugs only further complicate the problems trauma creates, and life is already complicated enough when you’re living with unresolved trauma. Further complicating matters is the fact that trauma survivors’ substance abuse can be incorrectly viewed as the primary issue, when in reality it is a response to trauma. Working with a trauma-informed therapist and/or psychiatrist is critical in obtaining an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan. Only addressing substance misuse or abuse will not alleviate the wide range of symptoms present for people who have survived trauma.
Trauma survivors are also more at risk for developing depression when the trauma is left untreated. Depression is more than just feeling sad. People living with depression experience hopelessness, a sense of worthlessness, feelings of guilt, increased anxiety, and overwhelming helplessness. Suicidal thoughts are often common for people suffering from depression, and trauma survivors have a higher rate of suicide than the general population. Depression and trauma often make those affected feel less connected to themselves and loved ones, which only perpetuates feelings of isolation and hopelessness. These emotions may produce a desire to die, and suicidal thoughts and feelings need immediate attention and medical care.
Reach Out to Us: Book Now in Atlanta or Roswell
Our team at Restorative Counseling Services understands how the effects of trauma can keep you from enjoying life to the fullest and we will journey with you to overcome them. We provide a safe and nonjudgmental space for you to discuss your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. We recognize that everyone has their own specific needs, and our team will create a specific, tailor-made approach to aid in your recovery. Please reach out to us if you think that past or current trauma may be impacting your life.
Please reach out today to connect to one of our expertly trained therapists and begin to gain control over your anxiety.
* What is EMDR?, EMDR Institute, https://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/, (accessed 18 December 2020)
** About EMDR Therapy, EMDR International Association, https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/, (accessed 18 December 2020)