Finding Healing from Psychological Trauma

In life, we all encounter difficult and distressing situations at one point or another. Some of these situations are shocking to the point that they can cause harm to a person’s emotional, physical, and mental well-being. That harm is referred to as either physical or psychological trauma.

What is psychological trauma?

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), trauma is “an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster”. That response to stressful events also includes abuse, being caught in a war zone, childbirth, sudden loss of a loved one, intergenerational trauma, being trafficked, being kidnapped, or any other event that a person finds emotionally or physically harmful or threatening.

However, experiencing a stressful event does not necessarily lead to trauma, and not everyone who goes through such an experience will be traumatized. Trauma can either be physical or psychological/emotional.

Physical trauma is when someone suffers a serious bodily injury that may or may not leave them incapacitated in one way or another. Psychological or emotional trauma is what has been defined above, and there are several subcategories or types of that trauma, and these include the following:

Acute emotional trauma, which stems from a dangerous or distressing situation. An example of this is being involved in a car accident.

Chronic emotional trauma, which develops because of repeated exposure to distressing events. Included in this category would be domestic violence, child abuse, or bullying occurring over an extended period.

There is a third subcategory, which is complex emotional trauma. Such trauma is the result of being exposed to several traumatic or distressing events. Trauma can also affect a person vicariously through having close contact with someone that experienced a distressing and traumatic event.

For instance, people like first responders, family members, and mental health professionals can end up developing signs of trauma because of their close contact with the person who experienced the trauma.

How trauma affects a person.

When a person experiences a distressing event, some of their initial reactions include denial and feelings of shock at what occurred. They may feel overwhelmed by what just occurred, and struggle to process their experiences. Over the long-term, a person who has experienced a distressing event may have difficulties in their relationships with others due in part to unpredictable emotions and emotional reactions to situations.

They may also experience flashbacks to and unwanted intrusive thoughts about the distressing event, mood swings, as well as physical symptoms such as nausea, headaches, feeling jumpy, and fatigue.

It takes time for one’s body and mind to process certain experiences, but it’s possible to struggle to move on and manage one’s emotions and thoughts in a healthy way. If the signs and symptoms of trauma linger and do not dissipate over time, trauma may develop into a condition called post-traumatic stress disorder, which requires the intervention of a mental health professional.

Healing from psychological trauma.

Trauma affects a person’s mind, emotions, and body. There are several ways to begin addressing the effects of trauma and to find healing. Some of these include making changes in your lifestyle to promote your well-being. It may also involve seeking therapy and other interventions from mental health professionals.

Taking care of your body has benefits for your emotional and mental health. This includes taking in regular exercise, which can help you deal with how trauma activates and overstimulates a person’s fight or flight response.

Taking in regular aerobic exercise during the week for at least half an hour each day can make a huge difference to one’s overall health. Mindfulness can also help to ground you in the present so that you don’t keep reliving the distressing events of the past.

Other ways to take care of yourself include seeking face-to-face connection with loved ones instead of withdrawing from them, as this can improve one’s mood and sense of well-being.

Finding support from loved ones to help you walk through your trauma, or looking for support from other people who have also experienced trauma can make a tangible difference in your journey. Being able to sleep and eat well plays a meaningful role in a person’s mental health, and should not be neglected.

In addition to taking these steps toward better self-care, pursuing therapy is another fruitful avenue for dealing with trauma. A trauma-informed or trauma-focused therapist can use therapeutic techniques such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help you process your trauma. These therapies help a person to process their emotions and the traumatic events to move toward healing.

Alongside these therapies, medications are often prescribed by a doctor to help manage the symptoms of trauma such as disturbed sleep, depression, and anxiety. This will diminish the disruption that trauma causes to a person’s daily functioning.

Trauma and its negative effects won’t go away on its own. Finding healing requires moving intentionally toward making effective self-care decisions and finding help from a mental health professional. If you or a loved one have experienced trauma, seek a counselor or therapist at Richardson Christian Counseling in Texas for help. Browse our online directory or contact our office today to find support.