Everything you need to know about trauma.
Eddie Archer, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy

5 Questions to tell you everything you need to know about Trauma

 

In the following article, I will cover the following 5 questions:

1. What is trauma?

2. What are the different types of trauma?

3. How does trauma change a person?

4. Why would a person need a specialist to navigate through trauma?

5. The BEST 3 trauma therapies for all age groups?

What is Trauma?

 

Trauma is fear that is out of control. Fear, however, is a normal and NEEDED part of human life. Fear is really a set of chemical reactions in the brain that are set off to keep a person safe. For Example: A zombie walks into your house zombie pic  (I hate zombies) Fear will prompt you to do 1 of 3 things: You will either Fight, Freeze or Run running man 

 

… As a result, you will either get away, beat the zombie up or stay so still the zombie loses your scent. Either way, you will no longer have a reason to fear and your brain will give you permission to calm down. As a result, your fear responses have allowed living another day in a zombie infested world.

Jokes aside, problems happen when the brain does not give a person permission to calm down. Therefore, that person gets stuck in fear. This is trauma. As you will see below, trauma will change the function of the brain, belief system, and body. So, what are the types a trauma a person can experience?

 

4 Types of Trauma

 

1. Acute Trauma-  A single traumatic event that lasts for a limited period of time. This is the instance where trauma is created by something so immense that the brain has a hard time processing the event.

Examples

Being in a car accident Seeing a loved one die A single physical or sexual assault Going through a natural disaster

2. Chronic Trauma- The experience of multiple traumatic events, often over a long period of time.

Examples

A child who On Monday sees a violent fight On Wednesday gets hurt in a drive-by shooting Then spends weeks in the hospital undergoing scary medical procedures.

  3. Neglect- Failure of a caregiver to provide for the basic needs of someone who is unable to care for themselves. Of all the types of abuse (sexual, emotional, physical) neglect has the worse outcomes. The other abuses communicate that a person is unloved while neglect says, “You do not matter”.

Please Note:

Neglect is perceived as trauma by infants and children.

It may reduce a child’s ability to recover from a trauma.

This abuse opens the door to other traumatic events.

 

4. Complex Trauma- When children are exposed to chronic trauma from the actions of parents or other adults who should have been caring for and protecting them.

Examples

Multiple traumatic events An abuse that began at a very young age The abuse caused by loved ones

Trauma will change the function of the brain, belief system, and body.

How does trauma change a person?

 

Trauma will physically change the brain.

The brain grows and functions on a use it or lose it principle. Meaning, the parts that are used the most is built up the most. For this reason, a child’s brain exposed to complex trauma would actually physically and behaviorally be different than another child that did not experience trauma. Parts of the brain (specifically towards the brain stem) will be larger than a non-traumatized brain.

Trauma changes the belief.

Out of control fears becomes irrational fears real quick. A person’s perceived happiness is 80% perception. If a traumatized person believes they are unsafe it trickles into every other part of daily functioning. Beliefs will impact thoughts, which impact emotions, which ultimately impact actions. For this person, trauma becomes a mental prison that limits that their potential.

Trauma changes your body.

Research is now backing up the fact that trauma affects eating, sleep, blood pressure, heart diseases, impulsiveness, autoimmune diseases. The hard fact is that the will body keep the score. Even when memory fails, the body often remembers. And it pays us back with disorders, diseases, and unexplainable pains. 

Why you need a specialist to navigate through trauma?

 

1.

It is dangerous work.

The therapist needs to understand that the core of the diagnosed problems is a person stuck in fear. The problem is not primarily behavioral. For that reason, if a therapist gives behavioral therapy without a trauma-informed lens their client can end up getting even more damaged.

2.

Trauma stands in the way of your best life.

Things will get stuck until trauma is dealt with.

Relationships = Stuck Health = Stuck Spiritual growth = Stuck Self-discipline = Stuck Insecurities = Stuck Identity = Stuck

When you can clear out the trauma, you can get free to work on all the other aspects of life without the weight of the past.

3.

It is hard work.

There is nothing pretty about healing trauma. It isn’t always fast, it isn’t always easy. In fact, for most, it gets worse before it gets better. But the effort alone will offer massive healing. Just trying to face the events that you have avoided produces resilience. Working on resolving trauma is one of those things you just have to take a risk to do, find a therapist you can trust.

The BEST 3 trauma therapies for all age groups?

Trauma Therapy for 0-5 years old

Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)

What is it?
Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) is an intervention model for children aged 0-5 who have experienced at least one traumatic event and/or are experiencing mental health, attachment, and/or behavioral problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The primary goal of CPP is to support and strengthen the relationship between a child and his or her caregiver as a vehicle for restoring the child’s cognitive, behavioral, and social functioning. Targets of the intervention include caregivers’ and children’s maladaptive representations of themselves and each other and interactions and behaviors that interfere with the child’s mental health.
What does a CPP session look like?
Caregiver and child are guided over the course of treatment to create a joint narrative of the traumatic event and to identify and address traumatic triggers that generate dysregulated behaviors and effect. When parents have a history of trauma that interferes with their responses to the child, the therapist helps the parent understand how this history can affect perceptions of and interactions with the child and helps the parent interact with the child in new, developmentally appropriate ways. Most sessions include the child and parent or primary caregiver. Some session will only focus on the primary caregiver. Weekly One hour sessions with the child, parent, and therapist
How long does CPP take?
Approximately 25 sessions. The type of trauma experienced and the child’s age or developmental stage determine the structure of CPP sessions. For example, with infants, the child is present but treatment focuses on helping the parent to understand how the child’s and parent’s experience may affect the child’s functioning and development. Toddlers and preschoolers are more active participants in treatment, which usually includes play as a vehicle for facilitating communication between the child and parent.
Pros and Cons
Pros

  • One of the few empirically based treatment models for children under 6 years old

Cons

  • This treatment takes a long time compared to other models
Links
https://www.nctsn.org/interventions/child-parent-psychotherapy http://www.cebc4cw.org/program/child-parent-psychotherapy/detailed https://childtrauma.ucsf.edu/child-parent-psychotherapy-training-agencies

Trauma Therapy for 3-5 years old

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT)

What is it?
TFCBT is a conjoint child and parent psychotherapy model for children who are experiencing significant emotional and behavioral difficulties related to traumatic life events. It is a components-based hybrid treatment model that incorporates trauma-sensitive interventions with cognitive-behavioral, family, and humanistic principles.
What does a TFCBT session look like?
Caregiver and child are guided over the course of treatment to create a joint narrative of the traumatic event and to identify and address traumatic triggers that generate dysregulated behaviors and effect. When parents have a history of trauma that interferes with their responses to the child, the therapist helps the parent understand how this history can affect perceptions of and interactions with the child and helps the parent interact with the child in new, developmentally appropriate ways. Most sessions include the child and parent or primary caregiver. Some session will only focus on the primary caregiver. Weekly One hour sessions with the child, parent, and therapist
What is an TFCBT therapy session like?
Treatment lasts approximately 12-18 sessions.
Pros and Cons
Pros

  • Flexible model
  • Provides a clear map of the direction of therapy

Cons

  • Focus on talk therapy, what is not always ideal in working with children
Links
https://www.nctsn.org/interventions/trauma-focused-cognitive-behavioral-therapy http://www.cebc4cw.org/program/trauma-focused-cognitive-behavioral-therapy/ https://tfcbt.org/

Trauma work for 5-years-old – Adult

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

 

What is it?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. EMDR is a set of standardized protocols that incorporates elements from many different treatment approaches. The goal of EMDR therapy is to process completely the experiences that are causing problems and to include new ones that are needed for full health.
What does a EMDR session look like?
Complete treatment of the targets involves a three pronged protocol (1-past memories, 2-present disturbance, 3-future actions), and are needed to alleviate the symptoms and address the complete clinical picture. An important part of the treatment happens through processing past memories. “Processing” does not mean talking about it. “Processing” means setting up a learning state that will allow experiences that are causing problems to be “digested” and stored appropriately in your brain. That means that what is useful to you from an experience will be learned, and stored with appropriate emotions in your brain, and be able to guide you in positive ways in the future. The inappropriate emotions, beliefs, and body sensations will be discarded. Negative emotions, feelings and behaviors are generally caused by unresolved earlier experiences that are pushing you in the wrong directions. The goal of EMDR therapy is to leave you with the emotions, understanding, and perspectives that will lead to healthy and useful behaviors and interactions. 60 or 90 minutes weekly sessions. All sessions will be one-on-one with the client and therapist.
How long does EMDR take?
Approximately 8 sessions. The amount of time the complete treatment will take depends upon the history of the client. One or more sessions are required for the therapist to understand the nature of the problem and to decide whether EMDR is an appropriate treatment. The therapist will also discuss EMDR more fully and provide an opportunity to answer questions about the method. Once a therapist and client have agreed that EMDR is appropriate for a specific problem, the actual EMDR therapy may begin
Pros and Cons
Pros

  • Offers faster relief than other therapy models.
  • There is no need to “talk” about past trauma.

Cons

  • Fairly new therapy modality
Links
Links

http://www.cebc4cw.org/program/eye-movement-desensitization-and-reprocessing/ http://www.cebc4cw.org/program/eye-movement-desensitization-and-reprocessing/ https://www.emdria.org/page/emdr_therapy

Next step? Good News, I have been trained and certified to provide all the therapies above. Click below to schedule your free 20-minute consultation.
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