Trauma/EMDR
What is Trauma?
Trauma is caused by an event or a series of events that overwhelm our resiliency and ability to cope. The prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for logical thought processes shuts down and is overrun by a natural urge for fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, otherwise known as our survival instinct.
It is estimated that 60% of people undergo some sort of trauma at some point in their lives and many move beyond it. However, if you are severely or repeatedly traumatized, you may stop responding logically when you mentally relive the event(s) and have painful emotional reactions. If this pattern continues for over one month, you may have developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Common PTSD symptoms include:
- Hyper-vigilance
- Intrusive thoughts
- Sleep disturbances
- Emotional dysregulation
- Feelings of shame during or immediately following the event(s)
PTSD is treatable.
Successful treatment methods for PTSD include:
CBT is built on the principle that changing negative thoughts will change negative emotions and so helps people develop alternative ways to think about the traumatic event(s).
EMDR allows the brain to decrease the magnitude of painful emotional reactions to triggering words, actions, and/or event(s). Independent research finds that 67% – 90% of people benefit from EMDR. EMDR is endorsed by the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, and the World Health Organization for use in treating PTSD.
I have 25 years of experience in helping people work through their trauma. If you are struggling, please contact me.
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