trauma therapy
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN’T ESCAPE THE PAST?
Maybe you are constantly triggered by reminders of a traumatic experience that causes you to feel depressed, anxious, or angry. Or it is possible that your symptoms have evolved into feelings of panic because you are constantly startled, never able to feel safe in your environment.
Do you blame yourself for what happened, causing you to live feeling constant shame, guilt, or denial about what happened? These are common feelings of people who struggle with symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which can impact all areas of your life.
If you are experiencing untreated traumatic symptoms such as intrusive thoughts, sleep disturbances such as nightmares or insomnia, disassociation, avoidance of reminders of the trauma, or difficulties with memory and concentration, this can impede your life on a daily basis.
It is possible that while you are living with these daily issues associated with trauma, your loved ones notice your distress and are also affected as well. You may notice yourself distancing yourself from others, withdrawing, finding interpersonal relationships way too overwhelming for you to manage.
Maybe you believe that no one will understand what you have gone through. Or maybe you wonder, what will they think if they knew what happened? Will they judge me? Even worse, will they still love me? Will they think differently of me? You might have difficulty controlling your emotions and find yourself experiencing many ups and downs without knowing why.
It is likely that you feel like life would be more bearable if you were better able to cope with the pain and stress of your traumatic past. And although we cannot change the past, trauma therapy can help you explore and improve the impact that your experience has left behind.
Symptoms of trauma can cause people to lose trust in others and therefore, impact their ability to have meaningful personal relationships. Traumatic experiences, especially in the case of sexual abuse, can cause a person to lack an understanding of appropriate boundaries, making it difficult to know who to trust and how to make connections with others.
When such distrust, constant negative intrusive thoughts, lack of social interactions, repeated reminders of the traumatic experiences through nightmares or flashbacks, and hypervigilance are present, this can lead to depressive thoughts, significant anxiety, and at times, fear, panic, and even suicidal ideation or attempts.
Sometimes, people do not recognize that they in fact have been struggling from past trauma. Maybe they thought that what they were experiencing was normal or they were pre-verbal at the time and did not have the words to express themselves. This is why trauma therapy is of the utmost importance, to help you understand what happened, learn how to heal, find the best way to cope with your symptoms, and be able to move forward with your life feeling safe and secure.
Therapy will Pave the Way to Move Forward to Finding Safety and Meaning in Your Life
In 1945, within months of his liberation from a concentration camp in Nazi Germany, Viktor Frankl wrote the true story of the unfathomable horrors and suffering he endured as a prisoner at Auschwitz, Dachau and other camps. The primary purpose of the text is to explore the source of his will to survive. The book, titled Man’s Search for Meaning, went on to sell over 10 million copies in 24 languages.
Some see life as a never-ending quest for pleasure. Others believe life is about the accumulation of power and money. Frankl sees life as primarily a quest for meaning.
Viktor Frankl survived at the ultimate margin. He concludes that the ultimate test for all of us is to find meaning in our lives, regardless of your health, wealth or circumstances – no matter how miserable or dire.
At Apple Psychological, our experienced, compassionate, trained clinicians provide a nonjudgmental space to guide you through the healing process. We are there to support you, and together, we are there with you on your journey for meaning and purpose no matter the circumstances.
While we know that this process might be frightening or daunting, please know that we will go at your pace, and take your cues as to when to continue. Also, in therapy, we practice, as Viktor Frankl as taught us,
1. We always retain the ability to choose our attitude.
2. There will be Suffering – It’s how we React to Suffering that Counts
3. There is Power when You have A Purpose.
4. The True Test of Our Character is Revealed in How we Act
5. Human Kindness can be Found in the Most Surprising Place
THE THERAPY PROCESS
Through therapy at Apple Psychological, we help you figure out not only how your life was impacted by the trauma but how you can grow even further after coming out of it. This may seem impossible now, but after you dive in and collaborate with the help of your expert trauma therapist, you will soon find that you are learning more about yourself than you never thought was possible.
Before your first session, you will receive paperwork to complete regarding your history and symptoms. Therefore, by the time you have your intake session, your therapist will have a good idea of what you are experiencing and you will be ready to discuss how we can help.
At Apple Psychological, we use a variety of techniques to help you decrease your symptoms and understand the root of your trauma. Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) for example, is a well-known treatment model used to address PTSD symptoms in clients of all ages. In addition, Behavioral and Cognitive Behavioral Interventions (CBT), as well as Solution Focused therapies, help to identify distortions in your thoughts, and how they impact your feelings, and behaviors, causing you to have a negative perception of the world. Also, your therapist may use narrative therapy to assist you in understanding your trauma and reframing positive stories which influence how you see yourself and others. In addition, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a technique that teaches you to tolerate distress in many different ways. It also offers the concept of mindfulness as well as radical acceptance, which is extremely helpful in the course of trauma treatment.
The symptoms and impact of trauma are complicated. If it is left untreated, it can potentially cause greater distress and create significant and debilitating problems long term. However, the good news is, you do not have to live with the constant negative thoughts, flashbacks, sleep disturbances, trust issues, relationship problems, social isolation, avoidance, and loneliness that your experiences have caused.
By joining us at Apple Psychological, you can take control of your symptoms and take your first step in moving forward toward a brighter future and leaving the past behind.
At Apple Psychological, we have been helping children, adolescents, and adults who have experienced trauma to decrease their symptoms, and feel safer in their world for almost 20 years. Our holistic team approach, combined experience, knowledge of various therapeutic techniques, together with our compassion for our clients and love for what we do have proven to be successful in helping our clients to reach goals that they never thought possible. We treat our clients as family and many of our families have been in our practice for many years as they trust our clinicians and often refer them to their own friends and family.
I’m almost ready to commit to treatment but I have a few questions…..
I’ve worked hard to forget my past. What if talking about my trauma opens up old wounds and makes things worse?
It is normal for symptoms to intensify as you open up about your trauma. However, because our therapists are trained and will go at your pace, we take our cues from you. From experience, I have seen many clients be surprised that as they begin to talk about their experience with a trusted clinician in a therapeutic, nonjudgmental environment, they feel a great sense of relief and notice a decrease in anxiety and depressive symptoms.
How can trauma treatment make me feel better?
Through the development of a therapeutic relationship, you will have the opportunity to learn new skills such as ways to tolerate distress, accept and understand what has happened, and contemplate how to grow and move forward, perhaps in a different or even better way than before, creating a positive mindset, and healing the anxiety and fear that has impacted you along the way. Although you cannot change what happened, therapy can help you feel in control of your life again.
Send us a message if you have any questions.
START ON YOUR PATH TOWARD MOVING FORWARD AND LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND
If you struggle with intrusive negative thoughts or anxiety related to a traumatic experience, therapy at Apple Psychological can help you. Please contact us and specify your interest in trauma therapy for your free, 15-minute consultation or to set up your first trauma therapy session.
Blogs
How Can I Connect Again After Facing a Sexual Trauma?
7 Ways To Stop Going Through The Motions And Start Living Life After Trauma
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