Learning about the stages of healing can be distressing, motivating, upsetting, or uplifting. No matter how you feel, your reaction is not wrong. Acknowledging your emotional response to the stages of healing can allow you to harness your emotions’ energy and reach out to a trained therapist.
When looking for a therapist, it is vital to keep in mind that, regardless of what type of psychotherapy you pursue, your therapist should empower you and welcome you as a collaborator in your therapy, not attempt to impose control over you. Studies have found that individuals who are active participants in their therapy are more satisfied with the therapy. In addition, it is crucial that you feel safe in your therapeutic relationship.
There is no magical treatment that will heal you overnight, nor is there one form of psychotherapy that is right for everyone, but you should be able to find a therapist, as well as a therapeutic approach, that works for you. Healing is like a marathon. It requires preparation, repeated practice, courage, determination, and the support of others—including that of a professional coach or therapist.
While there are numerous therapy approaches, the purpose of all trauma-focused therapy is to integrate the traumatic event into your life, not subtract it. This article discusses the most common forms of trauma therapy. Each approach is described in its most pure form, but keep in mind that many therapists combine different types of therapies.
Pharmacotherapy
Pharmacotherapy is the use of medications to manage disruptive trauma reactions. Medications have been shown to be helpful with the following classes of reactions/symptoms:
- Intrusive symptoms
- Hyperarousal
- Emotional reactivity
- Heightened arousal
- Irritability
- Depression
Taking medication does not make one’s trauma reactions and pain evaporate. Medications can only help make the symptoms less intense and more manageable.
If you decide to use medications, consult a psychiatrist and continue working with that psychiatrist for as long as you take the medications. Inform the psychiatrist of how the medications are impacting you. Some medications have side effects that may or may not be tolerable to you, and some people do not respond favorably to medications. Medications are most effective when individuals pursue therapy concurrently.
Behavior Therapy
The most common form of behavior therapy is exposure. In exposure therapy, one gradually faces one’s fears–for example, the memories of a traumatic event–without the feared consequence occurring. Often, this exposure results in the individual learning that the fear or negative emotion is unwarranted, which in turn allows the fear to decrease.
Exposure therapy has been found to reduce anxiety and depression, improve social adjustment, and organize the trauma memory. There are various forms of exposure therapy:
- Imaginal exposure: An individual imagines the feared event as vividly as possible.
- In vivo exposure: The exposure occurs in the therapy.
- Systematic desensitization: The individual is exposed to successively more fear-inducing situations. This exposure is paired with relaxation.
Exposure therapy is a highly effective treatment for posttraumatic stress (PTSD).
Another form of behavior therapy is Stress Inoculation Training (SIT), also known as relaxation training. Stress Inoculation Training teaches individuals to manage stress and anxiety.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is grounded in the idea that an individual must correct and change incorrect thoughts and increase knowledge and skills. Common elements of cognitive behavioral therapy trauma therapy include:
- Teaching individuals how to breathe in order to manage anxiety and stress
- Educating individuals on normal reactions to trauma
- Exposure therapy
- Identifying and evaluating negative, incorrect, and irrational thoughts and replacing them with more accurate and less negative thoughts
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Therapists who perform EMDR first receive specialized training from an association such as the EMDR Institute or the EMDR International Association. An EMDR session follows a preset sequence of 8 steps, or phases. Treatment involves the person in therapy mentally focusing on the traumatic experience or negative thought while visually tracking a moving light or the therapist’s moving finger. Auditory tones may also be used in some cases. Debate regarding whether eye movements are truly necessary exists within the field of psychology, but the treatment has been shown to be highly effective for the alleviation and elimination of symptoms of trauma and other distress.
Hypnotherapy
There is no one guiding principal for hypnotherapy. In general, a hypnotherapist guides the individual in therapy into a hypnotic state, then engages the person in conversation or speaks to the person about certain key issue. Most hypnotherapists believe that the emotions and thoughts that an individual comes into contact with while under hypnosis are crucial to healing.
Psychodynamic Therapy
The goal of psychodynamic trauma therapy is to identify which phase of the traumatic response the individual is stuck in. Once this is discerned, the therapist can determine which aspects of the traumatic event interfere with the processing and integration of the trauma. Common elements of psychodynamic therapy include:
- Taking the individual’s developmental history and childhood into account
- Placing emphasis understanding the meaning of the trauma
- Looking at how the trauma has impacted the individual’s sense of self and relationships, as well as what has been lost due to the traumatic event
Group Therapy
There are a variety of different groups for trauma survivors. Some groups are led by therapists, others by peers. Some are educational, some focus on giving support, and other groups are therapeutic in nature. Groups are most effective when they occur in addition to individual therapy. It is important for a trauma survivor to choose a group that is in line with where one is in the healing journey:
- Safety/victim phase: Choose a group focused on self-care and coping skills.
- Remembering and mourning/survivor phase: Pick a group focused on telling the trauma story.
- Reconnection/thriver phase: Join a group that aims to create connection with people.
- Educational groups are appropriate during all phases.
Any therapist, regardless of which type of therapy she or he works from, desires to help you grow and heal through your traumatic experience.
Together, you and your therapist will strive to acknowledge and identify:
- Where you are at in your healing journey
- Who you would like to be and what you would like to be doing when you enter into the thriver stage
- How you can get to that place from where you are now
- How to guide you through this healing work
As always, reach out for help and know that you do not need to go it alone.
Reference:
- What is the actual EMDR Therapy session like? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.emdrresearchfoundation.org/for-the-public/what-is-the-actual-emdr-therapy-session-like
The preceding article was solely written by the author named above. Any views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the preceding article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment below.
Phases of Trauma Healing: Part I, Establishing Safety
Moving Forward: Why Trauma Survivors May Not Begin Treatment
Mindfulness in the Treatment of Trauma
