When people talk about trauma, they generally mean any highly stressful event. But the key to understanding traumatic events is that trauma refers to extreme stress that overwhelms a person’s ability to cope. A person experiencing psychological trauma may feel emotionally, cognitively, and physically overwhelmed.

The definition of trauma is broad. It includes responses to single incidents, such as accidents, natural disasters, crimes, deaths, and other violent events. It also includes responses to chronic or repetitive experiences, such as child abuse or neglect.

What are the lasting effects of trauma?

People who survive traumatic incidents may not respond in a predictable way. While they may develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — nightmares, flashbacks, depression and physical illnesses — they may also experience other emotional difficulties, such as depression or anxiety. Many survivors of traumatic events also develop ways to cope that affect their lives in negative ways, including substance abuse, eating disorders, or self-harm behaviors.

Treatment

Trauma treatment is tailored to each individual based on this or her unique perspective. Treatment may include:

1. •Individual therapy — helps people experiencing trauma to develop a renewed sense of safety, manage strong emotions, grieve their losses, and move forward following traumatic events
   

2. •Dialectical Behavior Therapy — a type of treatment that involves specific coping skills focused on mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness
   

3. •Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing — an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. It uses directed eye movements or other types of bilateral stimulation to help a person to process traumatic events and develop new and positive thought patterns
   

If you or a loved one struggle with trauma, please contact Dr. Dalzell to schedule a confidential assessment.