Between fifty and sixty percent of Americans struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD and trauma can manifest in many different ways, which can be challenging to manage. There are trauma treatment options available to you. Find out what trauma therapy is and how it can help you.
What Is Trauma Therapy?
Trauma therapy is a form of therapy that helps you explicitly overcome trauma. There are different types of trauma therapy. Sometimes, it’s a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy, and other times it could be a more specialized type of talk therapy. There is also prolonged exposure therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), cognitive processing therapy (CPT), and narrative exposure therapy. Many trauma recovery programs will include multiple types of therapy for optimal results. Most people who successfully complete trauma therapy see a significant reduction in their symptoms.
You can also look for trauma therapists targeting the specific type of trauma with which you are struggling. Some types of trauma you might have trouble overcoming include sexual trauma, domestic violence, childhood trauma, trauma from serving in the military, and medical trauma.
Trauma therapists usually have specific training and experience working with people attempting to heal from trauma. They know how trauma is caused, how different people respond to trauma, and how it can be addressed. Marginalized groups may be more likely to have experienced trauma in their lives. They also might suffer from different types of trauma than non-marginalized people. It is vital to seek trauma therapists who understand and can relate to their patient’s trauma.
What Are the Benefits of Trauma Therapy?
The most apparent benefit of trauma therapy is that it helps you overcome trauma. Trauma therapy does more. Trauma therapy can help you let go of unhealthy coping methods that may be causing problems in your life. These could include relying on drugs or alcohol to get through the day, which can result in addiction issues.
You may avoid different locations or life experiences because of your trauma. Avoiding places or experiences can make it hard for you to succeed in your career or to live your everyday life. By working with trauma therapists, you’ll be able to return to these locations or engage in experiences without fear. Trauma therapy can help you overcome symptoms of your trauma that you might not have considered. If you struggle with insomnia or other types of sleep disturbances, this could be related to your trauma. Once you start working through your trauma, you may begin to sleep more easily.
Trauma therapy will give you the tools to help you manage any triggers to help prevent you from regressing. Managing triggers will help steady your mental health and boost your everyday functioning. Now that you’re spending less time struggling with the emotions that come with trauma, you’ll be able to form more robust and healthier relationships with the people in your life. Healthy relationships further help you live a healthy and happy life. You’ll have a stronger support system and more people to rely on daily.
Better mental health helps improve your physical health, too. You’ll have more emotional energy to take care of yourself, eat better, and get more exercise. That makes it less likely you’ll struggle with heart disease or other problems caused by a sedentary lifestyle.
Finding a Trauma Therapist
You can consider your options if you think you might benefit from trauma therapy. How do you get started? You can do an online search for options in your area. Ask any physicians or mental health experts you may already be working with for a referral. Read reviews online to see other people’s experiences with different trauma treatment programs. Lastly, once you find a therapist or a program, check the accreditation, education, and work experience. It’s always important to mesh well with your mental health professionals. If you don’t feel comfortable with them, you won’t be able to trust them as much as you need to start overcoming your past trauma.
There are outpatient and inpatient trauma programs, so you can look for one that suits your lifestyle and needs. Also, consider what is covered by your insurance as necessary.
Get Started With Trauma Therapy Today
Trauma therapy can bring a lot of different emotions up, and you may want to quit part way through. Stopping will leave you worse off than you were before. It can make your trauma even more severe if you’ve opened up those boxes and haven’t yet developed the coping mechanisms to manage them.
Trauma therapy has a lot of benefits for a wide range of people, but mental health treatment is a personal decision. You need to decide what the best choice is for your needs. Are you looking for treatment options for improving your mental health? Look into admissions at Comprehensive Health Centers in South Florida today to get started.
