Trauma can have a devastating impact on a person's life, both physically and emotionally. It can cause fear, avoidance of people, places, or things that remind them of the traumatic experience, and difficulty functioning in daily life. Trauma counseling is an important tool to help patients heal and overcome the obstacles they face after the event. It can provide an opportunity to face fears in a safe space and learn coping skills that can help them function on a daily basis.
At NorthStar Transitions, we use trauma-based care in conjunction with addiction treatment to help clients understand the causes of their addiction and cure them. We understand that being well informed about trauma, its effects, and its impact not only on the survivor but also on those around them is important to maintain a safe and protected space for healing to occur. The ultimate goal of trauma counseling is to help patients understand how their thoughts about trauma worsen PTSD symptoms and to help them identify toxic thoughts and feelings about the event. Different types of techniques are used to counsel patients with trauma, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Psychodynamic Trauma Therapy, and Group Therapy.
Recognizing the role of trauma in a person's experience is essential to treating and healing the toxic stress of trauma in a person's life. Trauma therapy can help you cope with trauma, whether it's due to a one-time event or an ongoing or lasting situation. It can make a difference in healing a survivor or causing them more harm. EMDR is one type of therapy used to treat trauma.
It consists of eight phases in which a licensed EMDR doctor asks the patient to remember the traumatic event and, at the same time, tracks the therapist's hand or light moving back and forth, as in typical depictions of hypnosis. People who have experienced trauma and who have been repeatedly told that their emotional experiences, characteristics, or reactions are unreasonable and unacceptable may suffer even more and develop chronic difficulties. If you hear someone describe themselves or their organization as a trauma-informed person, it is important for them to have a good idea of what that means so that they can look for signs that the quality of care is true to that statement. At NorthStar Transitions, we strive to provide quality care that is true to this statement. Often, people with trauma go through a phase of denial in which they believe they can return to their normal mental state on their own. Trauma therapy can help you address the traumatic event and process your feelings and emotions.
It can also provide you with an opportunity to learn how your thoughts about trauma worsen PTSD symptoms. Counseling is a useful tool to help patients heal and overcome the obstacles they face after the event. You should feel that you are allowed to slowly build a relationship and a sense of safety in the therapy room before sharing deeper information about your history of trauma. This treatment approach treats everyone involved, such as the survivor, family members, friends, staff, and others involved in the treatment process. Trauma changes the way a person regulates their thoughts and feelings, and their ability to care for themselves emotionally and psychologically. In her TED talk, Nadine Burke Harris explains how childhood trauma affects lifelong health. Trauma counseling is an important tool for understanding and healing toxic stress.
Contact NorthStar at (30) 558-6400 to learn more about our programs and how trauma-based care can help you.
