Trauma therapy

Trauma is the experience of a horrific event or multiple events that impact the individual on a psychophysical level.  Not only is the impact of the trauma emotional it is also physical.  The body gets activated to respond to the trauma whether it is fight, flight or freeze.  The autonomic nervous system is aroused even after the trauma is over and the person continues to experience arousal eg palpitations, sweating, rapid breathing, hypervigilance, and jumpiness.  Even once the trauma is over the body still remembers the trauma so people can often feel the physiological sensations long after the trauma.  Sometimes people experience flashbacks of the trauma.

There are different classifications of trauma:

Type I - the experience of a single traumatic event

Type II - those who have repeatedly been traumatised 

Type IIA - individuals with multiple traumas who have stable backgrounds and resources to cope with each traumatic event one at a time

Type IIB - individuals are so overwhelmed with trauma they are unable to separate one traumatic event from the other.

The body is impacted by trauma so the most effective way in dealing with trauma is Somatic Therapy and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.  This entails using psychoeducation and valuable tools and techniques to manage the somatic (body) experience.