What is trauma? Trauma can be understood as the emotional response someone has to a negative event or series of events. While trauma is a normal reaction to a negative event, the effects can interfere with an individual’s ability to live a normal life. In some situations, help may be needed to treat the stress and reactions caused by the traumatic event and to help restore someone to a state of emotional well-being.
Trauma can occur on a physical level such as a car accident, however it can occur on an emotional and psychological level. Some examples of these can include abuse, domestic violence, natural disasters or the loss of a loved one.
Sometimes people do not know if they have trauma because an event could have occurred several years ago and the person has not made the connections to some of the signs and symptoms of trauma.
Some signs and symptoms that someone might have from trauma are, but not limited to:
- Nightmares
- Feeling anxious
- Feeling depressed
- Anger
- Emotional outbursts
- Feeling disconnected
- Confusion
- Shock or denial
- Substance abuse
While these signs and symptoms may be apparent, sometimes the effects of trauma play into other parts of peoples lives such as relationships, managing trust, self esteem, etc. One method of therapy that is used with trauma is Traumatic Incident Reduction(TIR). Working together, we can recover, reconstruct and revive your life in a safe, non-judgemental environment. If trauma counselling is something that you want to explore or have any questions, please contact me.
