Trauma Therapy

“There is no timestamp on trauma. There isn’t a formula that you can insert yourself into to get from horror to healed. Be patient. Let the journey be your balm”. – Dawn Serra

What is Trauma?

Trauma refers to the emotional and psychological response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event. It can result from various experiences, such as physical or emotional abuse, accidents, natural disasters, or the loss of a loved one. Trauma can manifest in different ways, including anxiety, depression, flashbacks, and difficulty in relationships. It can affect a person’s sense of safety and well-being. Not everyone experiences trauma in the same way; what might be traumatic for one person may not be for another. There are two main types of traumas:
  • Acute Trauma: Results from a single distressing event.
  • Chronic Trauma: Results from repeated or prolonged exposure to distressing events, such as ongoing abuse or neglect.

How can therapy help me with trauma?

Therapy can be a valuable resource for processing and healing from trauma in several ways:
  • Safe Space: Therapy provides a confidential and supportive environment where you can express your feelings and thoughts without judgment.
  • Understanding and Validation: A therapist can help you understand your experiences and validate your emotions, which can be crucial for healing.
  • Coping Strategies: Therapists can teach you coping mechanisms to manage symptoms like anxiety, flashbacks, or emotional distress.
  • Processing the Trauma: Different therapeutic approaches, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), can help you reprocess and make sense of the traumatic event.
  • Building Resilience: Therapy can help you develop skills to cope with stress and build resilience, which can improve your overall mental health.
  • Improving Relationships: Trauma can impact your relationships. Therapy can help you understand these effects and improve communication and connection with others.
  • Empowerment: Working through trauma can lead to greater self-awareness and empowerment, helping you regain control over your life.

Our Approach

At Psychology and Beyond, we recognize that healing is not a one-size-fits-all journey. We provide a culturally sensitive and LGBTQIA+ affirming environment that respects your unique background and experiences. Our therapists work collaboratively with you, ensuring that you feel safe and empowered every step of the way.

EMDR

EMDR stands for Eye Movement, Desensitization, and Reprocessing. It is an integrative form of therapy that helps people heal from trauma or other distressing life experiences. EMDR therapy has been extensively researched and has demonstrated effectiveness for the treatment of trauma.

Our brains have a natural, self-healing process in place for recovering from traumatic memories and events. Many times, traumatic experiences can be spontaneously processed and resolved. Other times, some experiences may not be processed and healed without additional support and help. In such situations, one may become ‘frozen in time’. EMDR is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain and allows the brain to resume its natural healing process. Part of the therapy includes a technique called bilateral stimulation – which involves alternating eye movements, sounds, or taps – to repeatedly activate opposite sides of the brain. Facilitating bilateral stimulation mimics the period of sleep referred to as rapid eye movement or REM sleep. During REM sleep, the mind processes recent events to create psychological restoration. Thus, EMDR seems to help the brain process trapped memories to allow normal information processing to resume. EMDR is often used to help clients uncover and process beliefs that developed because of relational traumas or childhood abuse and/or neglect.

A typical EMDR Therapy session lasts from 60 to 90 minutes. The type of problem, life circumstances, and the amount of previous trauma will determine how many treatment sessions are necessary. EMDR Therapy may be used within a standard “talk” therapy, as an adjunctive therapy with a separate therapist, or as a treatment all by itself. During an EMDR Therapy session, the therapist works with the client to identify a specific problem as the focus of the treatment session. The client calls to mind the disturbing issue or event, what was seen, felt, heard, thought, etc., and what thoughts and beliefs are currently held about that event. The therapist facilitates the directional movement of the eyes or other dual attention stimulation of the brain, while the client focuses on the disturbing material, and the client just notices whatever comes to mind without making any effort to control direction or content. Each person will process information uniquely, based on personal experiences and values. Sets of eye movements are continued until the memory becomes less disturbing and the brain associates it with positive thoughts and beliefs about oneself; for example, “I did the best I could.” During EMDR Therapy, the client may experience intense emotions, but by the end of the session, most people report a great reduction in the level of disturbance.

One or more sessions are required for the therapist to understand the nature of the problem and to decide whether EMDR Therapy is an appropriate treatment. The therapist will also discuss EMDR Therapy more fully and provide an opportunity to answer questions about the method. Once therapist and client have agreed that EMDR Therapy is appropriate for a specific problem, the EMDR Therapy may begin.

Approximately 20 controlled studies have investigated the effects of EMDR Therapy. These studies have consistently found that EMDR effectively decreases/eliminates the symptoms of post-traumatic stress for most clients. Clients often report improvement in other associated symptoms such as anxiety. The current treatment guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies designate EMDR Therapy as an effective treatment for PTSD. EMDR Therapy was also found effective by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, the United Kingdom Department of Health, the Israeli National Council for Mental Health, and many other international health and governmental agencies. Research has shown that EMDR Therapy can be an efficient and rapid treatment. For further references, a bibliography of research may be found through EMDR International Association’s web site, www.emdria.org.

EMDR was originally developed to help with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It has since proven useful for the treatment of many other conditions as well, including:

• Panic Attacks
• Complicated Grief
• Dissociative Disorders
• Disturbing Memories
• Phobias
• Performance Anxiety
• Stress Reduction
• Sexual and/or Physical Abuse

Welcome to Psychology and Beyond, LLC. Our core values include a celebration of diversity, a strength-based approach, and connectedness.

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