Trauma Resources
What is trauma? Trauma is a pervasive problem. It can be anything that overwhelms our body’s ability to cope. Anything that is “too much, too fast, too soon.” Said another way, trauma results from exposure to an incident or series of events that are emotionally disturbing or life-threatening with lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, and/or spiritual well-being. Traditional talk therapies are often not effective for those dealing with trauma because of the ways trauma manifests in the body.
Complex Trauma Resource Network
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
RAINN- Resource network for sexual violence
Psychotherapy modalities for working with trauma:
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an approach to psychotherapy that identifies and addresses multiple sub-personalities or families within each person’s mental system. These sub-personalities consist of wounded parts and painful emotions such as anger and shame, and parts that try to control and protect the person from the pain of the wounded parts. IFS helps clients integrate and harmonize these parts, forming deeply satisfying internal and external relationships, unburdening their trauma and accessing innate healing energy.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP) is specifically designed for the treatment of trauma, trauma-related disorders, and difficulties stemming from unhealthy attachment patterns in infancy and early childhood.
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-mind therapy specifically focused on healing trauma by focusing on the body. SE was developed by Peter Levine in the 1970s. The therapy helps heal trauma and other stress disorders by modifying the trauma-related stress response through bottom-up (body to brain) processing.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a type of psychotherapy that can be used to help people who have experienced trauma. EMDR therapy is based on the idea that when people experience a traumatic event, their brains get stuck in a state of hyperarousal. This can lead to a number of symptoms, including anxiety, depression, flashbacks, and nightmares.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a modified type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Its main goals are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with others.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a cognitive-behavioral treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). CPT was developed in the late 1980s and has been shown to be effective in reducing PTSD symptoms related to a variety of traumatic events including child abuse, combat, rape and natural disasters.