Trauma – well, this particular word has so many different connotations that we often become perplexed to understand how we heal with it? While some people think that healing from trauma is having a tub full of ice cream during the late night hours, others want to go for a solo vacation!
When we talk about trauma, the one thing that is very important to understand in this case is that the definition of trauma differs from one individual to the other. Hence, the road to healing trauma is also very different and unique. Today we will talk about a few simple approaches to healing from trauma.
Yes, you read it right! When it comes to dealing with trauma, there are usually a few simple ways that you can take it up. Each person has their own coping mechanism; based on the same, the road to healing gets decided.
We need to understand the source of trauma to effectively deal with it. While some people think that only time is the ideal way to go, it’s more than that. If you happen to go through a “Therapy Journey“, you will see that focusing on this idea is more than anything else.
What is Trauma?
In order to understand how one can deal effectively with trauma, it is extremely important to understand what trauma is. Simply put, anything that has a daunting repercussion on your memory and causes pain is trauma.
While some people have traumatic experiences with their family and friends, others have trauma due to the environmental setting they are in. In any way, dealing with trauma is often and should be a personal choice!
Why is it again important that we take care of our trauma and deal with it effectively? It will ensure that one can be more promising in the future, and if there are triggers, one can deal with them effectively. With time, the traumatic experience usually gets buried and tends to manifest itself due to certain triggers.
When we heal from trauma effectively, it makes sure that these small triggers do not cause the same kind of reaction in us. Trauma is usually psychological in nature, and sometimes it does have a correlation with physical and mostly with emotional trauma as well.
Dealing With Trauma – The Approaches for Effective Healing
We must first remember that healing and dealing with trauma is not a one-time job. It takes a lot of time and, at the same time, a lot of perseverance. But thankfully, studies have moved ahead enough that we can finally talk about the approaches to deal with trauma.
We have talked about a few, but the most common thing is to ensure you get in touch with a professional who can guide you better. Some of these are:
1. Behaviour Therapy
The first approach that we will talk about is behaviour therapy, and a very common synonym for it is none other than exposure therapy. As you can make out from the name itself, the major essence of this therapy is that the therapist will focus on the problematic behaviour and trace the trauma that aggravates it.
Here the client will need to face their fear and understand where the trauma is coming from and how it impacts one’s daily life.
The exposure therapy is particularly great for those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who have faced bouts of depression and anxiety. It also helps the client to deal with the problematic scenario and adjust better to social life.
2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
The next approach to dealing with trauma more effectively is none other than CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. One of the most unique things about CBT is that it is a newer form of therapy; however, the efficacy rate is quite high. A very common reason it is so well accorded among people is its practical approach.
The major tenet of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is that it focuses on the client’s cognition and resultant behaviour. The research studies based on the efficiency of CBT often hint that it doesn’t get better than CBT for dealing with trauma.
It ensures one can deal better and face the traumatic event without repressing it. In due course, it will help one to take care of the same and deal effectively with the causes.
3. Hypnotherapy
Although not very traditional, hypnotherapy is a common form of therapy many people used until a few years ago. Sir Sigmund Freud is the major proponent behind this theory; hence, the focus was to let the unconscious speak. Sometimes we are so aware of what we are saying that it becomes extremely difficult to understand the source of the traumatic experience.
To ensure that this is not the case and the practitioner can understand the actual cause, there is nothing better than hypnotherapy. The hypnotherapist is a trained professional and they can interpret your sayings in a more fruitful and indicative manner.
4. Psychodynamic Approach
And finally, the last approach to dealing effectively with trauma is none other than the psychodynamic approach. It tends to focus on the age of the individual who caused the trauma and then trace back to that fixation.
According to this theory, each individual has to go through a few stages and fixation in any of these might lead to trauma. The trauma becomes difficult to understand; hence, the psychodynamic approach helps one trace the same very easily.
Conclusion
Trauma is often reciprocated in different ways and tends to have different meanings for different people. However, the one thing that we will always suggest is that you be very careful of your symptoms, as these are often the clearest indicator.
If you see that the symptoms are indicative of underlying issues, it is best to get in touch with a professional. A traumatic experience is never the same for two people, so the exhibition of the same also tends to differ.
You can even follow Chris Gustafson to get better reciprocation and understanding. It is quite relevant and can help you get better references on dealing with trauma more effectively.
Meta: We all have been traumatised in some phases of our lives. But how do we deal with it? Here are some different approaches that will help you understand and heal better.
