Beyond Survival: Transforming Trauma into Triumph through Therapy
Did you know that experiencing trauma is more common than you think, an estimation shows 60% of men and 50% of women experience at least one (or the other) form of trauma in their lives. Some people recover from trauma on their own while others require treatment. Trauma therapy is one of the most common treatment options for Trauma and PTSD. Learn about the types of trauma therapy in this article. Visit the best Mental Health Clinic in Brooklyn at Doral Health & Wellness or log on to www.doralhw.org.
Types of Trauma Therapy
Being a branch of psychotherapy, trauma therapy has many types. However, evidence-based treatments backed by research are the most effective. Here are a few main types of evidence-based therapies for treating trauma:
- Prolonged Exposure (PE):
Prolonged exposure therapy involves a person’s gradual exposure to their traumatic memories, fears, emotions, and feelings about the event to learn how to overcome their fears and move forward in life. Usually, patients need to meet with a therapist once a week for 3 to 4 months.
During the session, you learn about PTSD and trauma, practice breathing techniques, and imagine or re-expose yourself to the trauma or fear that’s causing your symptoms. Research has shown that PE can reduce symptoms of PTSD and eliminate the need for PTSD diagnosis. That’s why the American Psychological Association (APA) recommends PE as a first-line intervention for PTSD.
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT):
This therapy is designed to treat PTSD by helping patients identify their beliefs and thoughts about the traumatic event, how it affects their lives, and modify it. This therapy is a combination of cognitive therapy and exposure techniques. Research has shown that cognitive processing can lower your symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety. It also lowers the risk of receiving a PTSD diagnosis.
Its sessions can last for 12 weeks (about 3 months), one session per week. In the sessions, the therapist recommends writing details about the traumatic event allowing patients to re-conceptualize the event to reduce its impact on one’s current life. APA (American Psychological Association) also considers CPT as a first-line intervention for PTSD.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT):
This therapy focuses on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and the relationship between them. A trauma-focused therapist uses this therapy to help a client understand how they think about their trauma and how they can shift their outlook into more helpful thinking. While there are several versions of CBT that a therapist can use, however, for helping patients with trauma they typically choose trauma-focused CBT.
Typically, it may take 12 to 16 sessions of CBT to help identify, address, and reframe unhelpful behaviors, feelings, and thoughts related to a traumatic event. This therapy is also recommended by the APA for PTSD treatment, especially for children and adolescents.
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR):
This treatment was developed for PTSD which involves the processing of memory and the way it is stored in the brain to reduce problematic triggers and symptoms. During the session, the therapist asks you to move your eyes in rhythmic patterns to help you reframe your memories of the trauma. Its sessions last from 6 to 12 weeks (about 3 months) with two sessions per week.
- Narrative exposure therapy (NET):
This therapy focuses on the stories people tell themselves about their lives, how it impacts their well-being, and how they view themselves. This helps the therapist to offer connection and positive feedback about how the patient creates a chronological narrative of their life, including both traumatic experiences and positive experiences. This helps the patients reframe how they perceive their life and memories overall. This therapy is given in group or individual sessions and usually lasts from 4 to 10 sessions in total.
If trauma is ruining your life, then visit our behavioral health clinic in Brooklyn to get professional medical help where all your concerns will be listened to and treated. All your concerns will be addressed here. For further inquiries, call us on +1-347-384-5690 to get a consultation. We have some of the finest psychiatrist doctors who listen to your concerns, examine your symptoms, and create a treatment plan to improve your condition as soon as possible. If you need help learning coping methods, register your information and make direct contact with our doctors and psychiatrists to learn those methods, log on to www.doralw.org. Visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212.