What is trauma? How can therapy help?

People can think of many different things when they hear the word “trauma.” They might think of being a victim or of abuse. They may use it colloquially when they experience something unpleasant, saying that it traumatized them. The DSM-5, the manual that provides the criteria for mental health disorders in the US, states that trauma must include “exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence” of oneself, as a witness, or repeatedly as a first responder. The traumatic event must also be outside the range of usual human experience, cause intense fear, helplessness, or horror, and have a significant impact on the individual's life. Typically, these events may include natural disasters, sexual assault, child abuse, violence, and combat, as well as others. This does not mean that events outside of this do not have lasting effects or may cause symptoms that would benefit from therapy; they just aren’t specifically classified as trauma.

So maybe now you are thinking, “Yikes, so that was trauma?” Or maybe you are thinking “I’m doomed.” The good news is that you are not! There is hope. There are evidence-based treatments available that can help you manage your treatments and continue to life your life well (in whatever ways you define that). One such therapy modality that can help is Prolonged Exposure Therapy. This therapy is based on the idea that people who experience trauma come to develop negative beliefs about themselves and the world, resulting in avoidance of triggers to manage their symptoms. With support and education about how this happens, people who participate in PE Therapy are given the tools to manage their anxiety, face their fears, and reach their goals. This is one of the most researched methods of treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and I am prepared to help you get started today.

Maybe you are here seeking out help for your child who has experienced trauma of some sort. When it comes to children, there are options for therapy that are specific to children. I have training in the use of both Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Integrated Play Therapy to support children in recovering from PTSD or exposure to traumatic events, which does not always lead to developing PTSD. As we know, children are not just mini-adults, so it is important that therapy considers child development as well as each individual child’s needs. While traumatic events can have profound impacts on everyone involved, therapy can help guide children, adults, and families in coping, processing the experiences, and developing a new normal.

American Psychiatric Association, issuing body. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders : DSM-5-TR (5th edition, text revision.). American Psychiatric Association Publishing.