Trauma informed therapy is a specific type of treatment that helps trauma survivors heal. Trauma informed therapy helps survivors heal because it’s focused on the after-effects of a traumatic event. The therapist is educated on how trauma affects the mind and body. When you’re seeing a trauma-informed therapist, you’re not alone. They understand that you’re suffering and they want to help you. They’re concerned about how your trauma impacts you daily. Trauma can be brutal, and it can affect your mind and body to the point where you’re unable to function, but there is hope.
How trauma halts your life
You might feel like you can put the past behind you if you “just move on.” You don’t want to look at the terrible thing that happened, and you’d instead rather focus on right now. But is that working for you? You can’t forget what happened to you. And if you try, it will come back to haunt you somehow. And the truth is that if you don’t deal with what happened to you, you’ll suffer more. The goal of trauma-informed therapy is to show you that confronting what happened to you is beneficial. Hiding from it will make you feel worse. It might sound scary to talk about the traumatic event that occurred, but is it worth it to live through it every day? Flashbacks are brutal, and waking up in a cold sweat reliving what happened isn’t a way to live.
Overcoming trauma
You can overcome the pain that comes with trauma. But you don’t have to do it alone. There are mental health professionals who can help you. It’s crucial to see a therapist who understands how trauma impacts our lives. That would be a trauma-informed therapist. Seeing this kind of mental health professional can take you from suffering to living. A trauma-informed therapist can help you practice exercises including exposure therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. They’re not going to force you to do something you’re not ready to do, because they’re educated in how trauma impacts you. It’s important to see a therapist who understands trauma instead of seeing someone who practices standard talk therapy or psychotherapy without specializing in trauma.
Why trauma-informed?
“Trauma-informed” means that your therapist is educated in the severe way that trauma affects people. You want someone with that education. They’ve studied about trauma and how it impacts us on a psychological and physiological level. Trauma affects our bodies, our minds and can ruin our lives. It’s important to see a therapist who gets that. A trauma informed therapist is someone who has taken the time to educate themselves on the severe and detrimental impacts of trauma on the brain and body. This is your life, and you have the right to live it well; that includes seeing the right mental health professional. Don’t take therapy lightly — it’s something that’s going to change your quality of life.
Start living
When you go through trauma-informed therapy, you’re committing to start living your life. You’re no longer in a state where your trauma freezes you. Instead, you’re ready to start living. Trauma doesn’t have to hold you hostage. Whether you’ve been through an assault or are the victim of a natural disaster or you witnessed something horrific, you can get through these experiences with the help of a trauma-informed therapist. Online therapy is an excellent treatment option. If you’re thinking about confronting trauma, consider working with an online therapist who can help you work through the pain that you’ve experienced and start to heal.