Top-Notch Redondo Beach Trauma Therapy
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Trauma Therapy Approach in CA?
Trauma therapy is an approach to therapy that emphasizes the understanding of how a traumatic experience can impact a person’s mental, behavioral, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellbeing.
Trauma counseling offers patients in Redondo Beach the skills and strategies to help them better understand their trauma and how to process emotions and memories tied to traumatic experiences. The end goal of this type of therapy is to enable the patient to create a healthier and more adaptive response to the traumatic experience, something known as post-traumatic growth.
Benefits of Trauma Therapy
Trauma therapy can be beneficial for those who have experienced a traumatic event. Trauma comes in various forms – a one-time incident, developmental trauma (meaning multiple traumas over time), systemic, intergenerational, medical, etc. Individuals in Redondo Beach can learn more about their experiences and how to address their concerns and develop healthier ways of coping.
Goals of Trauma Therapy
Before committing to counseling with a Redondo Beach trauma therapist, it's important to understand what the goals are of the therapy, what you are hoping to get from it, what you want to accomplish, and how your life will look when treatment or counseling is complete.
You will be aware of your trauma, and what triggers you and the ways in which you react. Not everyone's goals for trauma counseling are the same. However, the most crucial typically include:
- To face the reality of the traumatic event without letting it control your life
- To reduce the symptoms related to trauma
- To improve your everyday life
- To reclaim your power
- To overcome any addictions that may be associated with the traumatic stress
- To gain skills that can help you prevent relapse
Your unique goals will be determined by your unique situation. It's important to discuss these goals with your trauma therapist in Redondo Beach early on in the process so that the therapy or treatment can be as effective as possible.
To begin trauma therapy in Redondo Beach or learn more about it, contact us today.
Trauma Focused Resiliency Model®
Vo Schmidt is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (#2647) and certified practitioner in the Trauma Resiliency Model® (TRM) in Redondo Beach.
TRM is a somatic alternative to mind-based or conversion-based therapy. It addresses the physical effects of stress caused by traumatic events.
This model recognizes that trauma is experienced through the body's senses. It is then stored through the nervous system. However, by focusing on training the patient to develop a set of resiliency skills, TRM can help them build healthier pathways within the body's muscle memory.
TRM intercepts harmful stimuli before they become thoughts while other forms of therapy deal with just troublesome thought patterns. By deflecting these stimuli when they first enter the body's sensory system, TRM helps clients resist the physical strain that often accompanies stress due to trauma.
Anyone, including children, can practice the skills taught within the TRM framework and in response to all types of traumas. This therapy's goal is to increase trauma resilience and allow the patient to deal with it more effectively.
Trauma Therapy FAQ
What are the signs of trauma?
The signs of trauma are physical in nature because trauma manifests physically before emotionally. Some common signs of trauma include lethargy, fatigue, poor concentration, and a racing heartbeat. It’s possible for the individual with trauma to have anxiety or panic attacks.
How do you know if you're traumatized?
Trauma is defined as psychological, emotional responses to an event or life experience that was distressing or disturbing. There are different types of trauma, such as; complex trauma, developmental trauma disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
If you experience symptoms like headaches, chest pain, nausea, and strong emotions like being afraid while you’re safe at home, you may be traumatized. In order to determine if you’ve been traumatized, it’s best to discuss it with the right therapist in Redondo Beach CA.
Why does talking about trauma help?
Talking about trauma with a Redondo Beach therapist can help in a number of ways. Talk therapy has been proven effective in treating and managing a wide range of mental health disorders.
Not only does it help you get support like reaching out to someone who understands what you’re going through and what you feel but also can provide you with professional advice, but therapy can help the individual make sense of their life experiences.
To process your trauma, you must understand it, and often, trauma is a mess of emotions, stress anxiety, reactions, and questions that need to be sorted out. Therapy can also help the individual realize that they are more than their trauma, which can help them improve their quality of life.
Does talking about past trauma help?
Yes, therapy can help, and talking about trauma can help and build your self esteem. However, many trauma survivors never speak to anyone about how they feel and their life experiences or wait a long time to do so. For some, talking about their trauma can be an initial step towards healing as it allows you to speak your truth and get your feelings and emotions off your chest.
However, there are others out there that think reliving the experiences through talking about it and receiving a negative response can harm their recovery. This is why it’s so important to work through your trauma with the right therapists. While talking to your friends and family can seem like a quicker option, if they don’t have experience with trauma, they may say something that will inhibit your ability to heal effectively or exacerbate feelings of shame that may be related to the experience.
How do you face trauma?
Facing trauma is often the first step to healing within your therapy and recovery process. If you feel scared or anxious, it can be difficult to face your trauma. However, with the help of a trained and the right therapists, you can have a safe space and consistent structure where you can sort out the distressing experiences you went through.
What does trauma do to the brain?
Trauma has been found to have a significant impact on every aspect of someone’s life, including their brain. The areas of the brain that are affected by trauma are the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex.
The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure in the temporal lobe of the brain which is responsible for detecting threats in the environment and activating the fight-or-flight response. It is also the part of the brain that stores threat-related memories, in order to make responses to stressful situations faster and more instinctive.
The prefrontal cortex is located in the frontal lobe. It is the part of the brain that determines the emotional significance of stimuli. Depending on the resulting interpretation, the prefrontal cortex then decides the appropriate response to the stimulus, as well as inhibits dysfunctional responses.
When the brain encounters threatening stimuli, the amygdala activates the fight-or-flight response, and signals the release of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex assesses the threat and decides if it is appropriate to continue the stress response, or to calm the body down.
In contrast, people suffering from trauma typically have a hyper-reactive amygdala as well as a less-engaged prefrontal cortex. Thus, the amygdala tends to respond too vehemently to potentially-threatening stimuli, while the prefrontal cortex is unable to inhibit the stress response.
The result is that a person suffering from trauma has less control over their reactions and impulses when triggered by threatening stimuli. They may respond with inappropriate, disproportionate, aggressive, or paralyzed actions. Left unchecked, this may have damaging consequences to daily life, relationships, or their future.
Contact us today to book your first trauma therapy appointment.