Why is trauma therapy so hard?

Traumatic events are personal and some people develop PTSD from situations that, to the eyes of society and others, are “nothing”. Yet, the wounding is real. For this reason, trauma and PTSD is difficult to treat. We have extensive knowledge of what causes trauma, but it is, ultimately, a very personal journey to take.

How long does it take for trauma therapy to work?

Conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder typically take around 15-20 sessions for 50% of patients to feel improvement. It's been found that those treated with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy report feeling better after around 10-20 sessions.

Can trauma therapy make things worse?

A bad therapist can shut down your healing process instead of helping it along. Bad therapy can even be destructive, either re-traumatizing you or causing new psychological harm. The bad news is that something as well-intentioned as going to therapy can backfire.

Why does trauma therapy take so long?

Therapy often takes longer than first-time patients anticipate. Sometimes this is because they enter treatment for a concrete problem, only to discover deeper, more chronic difficulties.

How do you survive trauma therapy?

Why Therapy Can Make Us Feel Worse...

Why is trauma therapy so exhausting?

Because of the drain on your body due to the emotions involved, you will feel exhausted, and some will feel tired and emotionally drained because of the fight or flight response they seem to be going through so much of the time. It feels like PTSD can suck the life out of you if you let it.

Does trauma ever fully heal?

There are degrees of trauma. It can be emotional, mental, physical or sexual. It can occur once, or repeatedly. However, it is possible to fully recover from any traumatic experience or event; it may take a long time, but in the end, living free from the symptoms of trauma is worth every step of the journey.

How do you know if trauma therapy is working?

Does trauma therapy get worse before it gets better?

"Therapy, particularly trauma therapy, always gets worse before it gets better," says therapist Nina Westbrook, L.M.F.T. If you've ever done trauma therapy — or just intensive therapy work — you know this already: It's not easy.

How long does it take to fully heal from trauma?

The normal healing and recovery process involves the body coming down out of heightened arousal. The internal alarms can turn off, the high levels of energy subside, and the body can re-set itself to a normal state of balance and equilibrium. Typically, this should occur within approximately one month of the event.

Why talking about trauma doesn t help?

Van der Kolk shares how understanding and feeling are located in different parts of the brain. People may understand their trauma, but their feelings need to emerge in treatment to get results. This is why just talking, and reviewing events, does not seem to help people very much.

What does healing from trauma feel like?

Recovery is an individual experience and will be and look different for everyone. In general recovery is the ability to live in the present without being overwhelmed by the thoughts and feelings of the past. Central to the experience of trauma is helplessness, isolation and the loss of power and control.

What is trauma dumping?

Trauma dumping is when someone shares traumatic details or events without another person's consent. Before confiding in someone, it's important to make sure that they can properly support you. If someone shares a trauma with you, try your best to listen with empathy and without judgment.

How successful is trauma therapy?

What are the success rates of trauma therapy? Studies have found that between 77% and 100% of patients who attend regular, customized trauma therapy sessions will see a reduction in their symptoms. This is on-par with studies on trauma patients who used medications to treat their symptoms.

What type of therapy is best for trauma?

What to expect in trauma therapy?

Trauma-focused therapy sessions aim to help youth discover skills and improve coping strategies to better respond to reminders and emotions associated with the traumatic event. Some of these skills include anxiety management and relaxation strategies that are taught in youth friendly ways.

Why do clients smile when talking about trauma?

Smiling when discussing trauma is a way to minimize the traumatic experience. It communicates the notion that what happened “wasn't so bad.” This is a common strategy that trauma survivors use in an attempt to maintain a connection to caretakers who were their perpetrators.

Does trauma permanently change the brain?

Brain areas implicated in the stress response include the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Traumatic stress can be associated with lasting changes in these brain areas. Traumatic stress is associated with increased cortisol and norepinephrine responses to subsequent stressors.

Does healing trauma change the brain?

The functions of the amygdala, hippocampus, and the prefrontal cortex that are affected by emotional trauma can also be reversed. The brain is ever-changing and recovery is possible.

Where is trauma stored in the body?

Ever since people's responses to overwhelming experiences have been systematically explored, researchers have noted that a trauma is stored in somatic memory and expressed as changes in the biological stress response.

How do you get unstuck from trauma?

Where is guilt stored in the body?

Body and Mind

The positive emotions of gratefulness and togetherness and the negative emotions of guilt and despair all looked remarkably similar, with feelings mapped primarily in the heart, followed by the head and stomach.

How can you tell if someone is traumatized?

Can you heal from trauma without therapy?

The most important thing to remember is that whether you do it with the support of friends and family or the support of a mental health therapist, it is 100% possible to completely heal from trauma and continue on to live a meaningful life. Your life doesn't need to end with a traumatic event.

What happens when you don't deal with trauma?

There are absolutely health impacts from unresolved trauma. Unresolved trauma puts people at increased risk for mental health diagnoses, which run the gamut of anxiety, depression and PTSD. There are physical manifestations as well, such as cardiovascular problems like high blood pressure, stroke or heart attacks.