Email: dragonflycounselling2024@gmail.com Phone/Message: 07564693803
Trauma Informed Therapy
As well as having my own lived experience of Trauma, I have also undertaken additional training on how to support others who have suffered from Trauma. This enables me to be a trauma informed therapist and have a deep understanding of the impact of trauma on our physical and mental wellbeing.
Understanding Trauma
What is Trauma?
Trauma is the term given to any deeply disturbing and distressing event that can happen in our lives.
Due to the nature of the experience, our ability to cope and manage can become overwhelmed. Trauma can leave us with physical and/or psychological scars.
All of us at some point in our lives are likely to experience a traumatic event. However, people will be impacted differently from these. We may be impacted straight away from the traumatic experience, or the effects of the trauma may show up much later in life.
Some traumatic event may be a one off, such as being involved in a car accident, or the victim of a burglary. Whereas others may be prolonged trauma, such as living in a violent situation or suffering long term abuse as a child.
The Impact of Trauma
How Does Trauma Impact on Us?
The impact of trauma will vary from person to person and concentrating on how you are feeling is more important than comparing your reactions to that of other people.
Trauma can impact on us in many different ways including:
- Continually triggering our fight/flight response;
- Impacting on our emotional wellbeing through either overwhelming us with emotions or causing us to 'shut down';
- Blaming ourselves for whatever has happened;
- Impact on our physical wellbeing by manifesting in things such as headaches, nausea; body pains;
- Experiencing flashbacks of the trauma;
- Difficulties in sleeping or dreaming about the events;
- Using strategies that harm us to cope, including self harm; drink; drugs etc;
- Feeling suicidal or acting upon suicidal feelings;
- Developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD).
PTSD and CPTSD are differing conditions, although there are some similarities between them. Not everyone who experiences trauma will develop a type of PTSD. However, many people will.
PTSD generally develops after a single traumatic event, whereas CPTSD is now recognised as occuring in people who have experienced prolonged or multiple traumas.
More information on the impact of trauma can be found below.
Coping and Thriving after Trauma
Support And Help In Dealing With Your Trauma
Coming Soon
