TRIUMPH OVER TRAUMA
Be Set Free
Trauma
DEFINITION OF TRAUMA
A traumatic event is a situation where someone has been exposed to something that created a real or perceived threat of death or serious injury to self or others, or experienced repeated and/or prolonged incidences of maltreatment or gross neglect.
Some people navigate traumatic events, losses or major life stressors and manage the turmoil without seeking professional assistance. However, sometimes the intensity of the event or the combination of multiple stressors creates debilitating circumstances that leave us feeling helpless and hopeless. We live our lives as if constantly moving through a revolving door. Recognising patterns of behaviour and reoccurring thoughts and having no idea how to stop the self-sabotage. When left unadressed, these events often lead to multiple co-occurring conditions including depression, anxiety and alcohol or substance abuse.
Cultural Trauma occurs when an entire group’s consciousness is impacted by a horrible event and the collective identity of the group is changed in fundamental ways, often across generations. Cultural trauma is then re-experienced and reinforced through daily reminders of the historical event. Indigenous people groups have experienced this, and the stories are passed from one generation to the next as they have been dispossessed of their land and sense of belonging.
COMMON SYMPTOMS OF TRAUMA EXPERIENCE
- Difficulty staying on task
- Feeling cut-off from people and things you used to enjoy
- Irritable or easy to anger
- Feeling depressed and disconnected
- Feeling upset by words, phases, locations, smells or sounds that remind you of the event
- Nightmares, vivid memories, or flashbacks of event.
- Guilt
- Feeling numb or ‘cloudy’
- Feeling emotionally empty
- Frequent or increased fighting with those closest to you.
- Feeling jittery, jumpy, or anxious most of the time
- Feeling unsafe or fearful more often than not
- Frequent anxiety dreams about mundane subjects that feel terrifying
- Increased substance or alcohol use in order to lessen the impact of any symptoms.
- Thoughts of harming self
COMMON EXAMPLES
- Natural disasters
- Witnessing or experiencing community violence
- Childhood sexual abuse
- Medical/surgical trauma
- Bullying
- Workplace trauma
- War
- Witnessing or experiencing domestic violence
- Childhood abuse or neglect
- Sexual assault/rape
- Secondary trauma
- Cultural trauma
- Car Accident
COUNSELLING PROCESS
Triumph Over Trauma provides individually tailored counselling support to each client based on the frequency, intensity, and duration of symptoms as well as the identified strengths and priorities of each person. I emphasise and build on the core strategies of Evidence-Based treatments by providing a safe and contained therapeutic environment and developing strength-based treatment plans. Treatment plans include psycho-education, learning to regulate body and breath through mindfulness exercises, and creating safe imagery that builds toward systematic exposure both in and out of session. The most effective and efficient process is the Richards Trauma Process TRTP™. This is usually conducted over 3 x 2-hour sessions including planning for the future.