If you’ve gone through a traumatic experience,
you may be struggling with upsetting emotions, frightening memories, or a sense of constant danger that you just can’t
kick. Or you may feel numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people.
Commonly overlooked sources of emotional trauma
- Serious physical injuries
- Emotional or physical abuse by a parent
- The sudden death of someone close
- An auto accident
- The breakup
of a significant relationship
- A humiliating
or deeply disappointing experience
- The
discovery of a life-threatening illness or disabling condition
Traumatic
experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and alone can
be traumatic, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective facts that determine whether an
event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the
more likely you are to be traumatized.
A stressful event is most likely to be traumatic if:
- It happened unexpectedly.
- You
were unprepared for it.
- You felt powerless
to prevent it.
- It happened repeatedly.
- Someone was intentionally cruel.
- It happened in childhood.
Emotional and psychological trauma can be caused by single-blow, one-time events, such as a horrible
accident, a natural disaster, or a violent attack. Trauma can also stem from ongoing, relentless stress, such as living in
a conflict-prone family or struggling with cancer.
Childhood trauma increases the risk of future trauma
Traumatic experiences in childhood can have a severe and long-lasting
effect. Children who have been traumatized see the world as a frightening and dangerous place. When childhood trauma is not
resolved, this fundamental sense of fear and helplessness carries over into adulthood, setting the stage for further trauma.
Childhood trauma results from anything that disrupts a child’s
sense of safety and security, including:
- An unstable or unsafe environment
- Separation from
a parent
- Serious illness
- Intrusive medical procedures
| - Sexual, physical, or verbal abuse
- Domestic violence
- Neglect
- Bullying
|
EMDR &
Trauma
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
It's a type of psychotherapy involves thinking about the traumatic event while remaining mindful of your body's
reactions. Recent studies have found that EMDR is one of the most effective
treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
What
is EMDR?
At the time of a traumatic event, strong emotions interfere with
our ability to completely process the experience and one moment becomes “frozen in time.” Recalling the
traumatic event may feel as though the person is reliving the event all over again because the images, smells, sounds, and
feelings are still there and can be triggered in the present. When activated, these memories cause a negative impact
on our daily functioning and interfere with the way we see ourselves, our world and how we relate to others. EMDR therapy
appears to directly affect the brain, allowing the individual to resume normal functioning while no longer reliving the images,
sounds, and feelings associated with the trauma. The memory is still there, but it is less upsetting.
How Does EMDR Work?
The theory underlying EMDR treatment is that it works by helping the sufferer process distressing memories
more fully which reduces the distress. EMDR is based on a theoretical information processing model which posits that symptoms
arise when events are inadequately processed, and can be eradicated when the memory is fully processed. Based on the
evidence of controlled research, both the American Psychiatric Association and the Department of Veterans Affairs have
placed EMDR in the highest category of effectiveness and research support in the treatment of trauma.
