Brief Introduction to 5 Best Therapies for Trauma

Trauma results from observing or being in events or circumstances which are harmful or life threatening. Any functioning area of human can be affected by trauma, it can be psychological, physical, social, behavioral and spiritual.

An individual who experiences trauma is at the risk of developing mental illnesses like depression, addiction and suicide attempts. The management of trauma is very important and it should be done by professionals. In this article we will discuss some of the best therapies for trauma that are and how they work.

The focus of trauma therapy is to help the person deal with his feelings and help them how to deal with the trauma related issues. The therapist has to empower the person to deal with the stages of healing as it is shown by research that if the client is involved himself in the therapy then the chance of betterment increases.

Pharmacotherapy

When you are dealing with trauma there are some reactions or symptoms that are very hard to manage. They disturb your daily life routines, social interactions and overall lifestyle and are also distressing for you. Many people take the help of medication to get help manage these kinds of problems, and that whole process is called Pharmacotherapy.

Some of the conditions that the people with trauma encounter are hyperarousal, emotional reactivity, depression and irritability. With these medications the symptoms do not vanish or get solved completely. They are used to minimize the effect of these symptoms so you can deal better with your daily life issues. It is also very important to consult a psychiatrist before taking any medication because some of them can have side effects.

Behavior Therapy

Behavior therapy and behavioral techniques is also considered the best therapy for trauma. Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) is a form of behavior therapy which is used to treat trauma patients. It is used to deal with stress better and also the management of anxiety for the people who are suffering from trauma. The other technique which is widely used for trauma patients is exposure therapy. In this therapy the client is exposed to the situation, event or object that is distressing. After the exposure the person is in fear and stress that something is going to happen but it doesn’t. Slowly and gradually the person understands that the negative outcome is not happening so the distress is unwarranted. There are three types of exposure therapy which are: Systematic desensitization, in vivo exposure and imaginary exposure.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Cognitive Behavior Therapy CBT is focused on the cognition, and it looks at how a person attach meanings to their thoughts about a certain experience or an event. CBT tries to change the way of thinking of the client or tries change negative thoughts into positive or neutral thoughts, so that the emotional response is not negative.

In CBT persons with trauma are taught how to deal with negative emotions, stress and anxiety with relaxation exercises and breathing exercises. Patient’s negative and inaccurate thoughts are replaced with positive and accurate thoughts. Any negative schema about the trauma are discovered and education about the reaction to the trauma.

EMDR

EMDR is one of the modern therapies to deal with the trauma patients but it is an effective one. In this therapy the there are preset sequence of therapy and the psychologist follows them to deal with the trauma. In this therapy the client is first taken to a happy place in his mind.

After that the client has to imagine or focus on the traumatic experience while he is looking at the moving fingers of the therapist. Sometimes a light is also used and auditory cues are also used for people with visual disability. There is a conflict between people about the necessity of eye moment during this therapy. For practicing this a therapist needs to receive special training from EMDR Institute or the EMDR International Association.

The Psychodynamic therapy

Psychodynamic therapy focuses on the response of the traumatic experience that the client is stuck on. After deciding this the therapist looks at what aspects of the traumatic event are not letting the client deal with the trauma and integrates it into their mind process.

The meaning of the trauma is very important in this therapy, which means what meaning was given to the trauma by the patient and how this is affecting the life of the person and others around them. Childhood history is also very important in psychodynamic therapy for trauma.