Have you lived through an experience where you or someone else was seriously injured or threatened with death or serious injury?
Have you been continuously emotionally and psychologically harassed, bullied, or invalidated?
Have you lived through a natural disaster?
Have you been sexually assaulted?
Have you been in a combat zone?
Do you feel stuck in your past and worry you will never feel normal again?
If you’re dealing with trauma, you may find yourself overcome by physical discomforts you can’t seem to control, like tiredness, sleep issues, persistent pain with no medical cause, chronic tension, anxiety, depression, and more. You may notice yourself keeping people at arm’s length and have difficulty fully trusting anyone. Perhaps, you may have a pattern of being overly trusting and attracting unhealthy relationships. Feeling safe and comfortable in your own skin feels like a daily challenge.
The Emotional Response to Corona Virus and other Traumas
It’s normal to experience traumatic stress following a disturbing event, whether it’s the coronavirus pandemic, a traffic accident, plane crash, violent crime, terrorist attack, or a natural disaster like an earthquake, hurricane, or flood. You may feel intense shock, confusion, and fear, or feel numb or overwhelmed by a host of conflicting emotions, sometimes all at once. These emotions aren’t limited to the people who experienced the event. Round-the-clock news and social media coverage means that we’re all bombarded with horrific images of tragedy, suffering, and loss almost the instant they occur anywhere in the world. Repeated exposure can overwhelm your nervous system and create traumatic stress just as if you experienced the event firsthand.
Traumatic stress can shatter your sense of security, leaving you feeling helpless and vulnerable in a dangerous world—especially if the traumatic event was manmade, such as a shooting or act of terrorism. You may feel physically and emotionally drained, overcome with grief, or find it difficult to focus, sleep, or control your temper. These are all normal responses to abnormal events. Usually, feelings of anxiety, confusion, guilt, and despair following a disaster or traumatic event will start to fade within a relatively short time. However, if your traumatic stress reaction is so intense and persistent that it’s getting in the way of your ability to function, you may need help from a Mental Health Professional specializing in trauma.
Get Unstuck and Feel Alive Again!
When you come to Trauma Therapy, the therapist will ask what your goals are and discuss the symptoms of the problem. Your nervous system has become overwhelmed by stress, triggering a wide range of intense emotions and physical reactions. These symptoms of traumatic stress can range from mild to severe and often come and go in waves. There may be times when you feel jumpy and anxious, for example, and other times when you feel disconnected and numb.
Whether or not the traumatic event directly impacted you, it’s normal to feel anxious, scared, and uncertain about what the future may hold. During Trauma Counseling, we use evidence-based practices; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)is a form of mindfulness therapy, that stems from behavioral therapy and cognitive behavior therapy. Clients learn to stop struggling with their inner emotions and instead, accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that shouldn’t prevent them from moving forward in their lives. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing or EMDR, is based on the idea that negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are the result of unprocessed memories. This treatment involves focusing on traumatic images, thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations while focusing on eye movements or other sensory organs. Unlike many talk therapies with a trauma focus, it does not involve detailed descriptions of the event, direct challenging of beliefs, extended exposure, or homework. The next approach to healing trauma, Somatic Experiencing which is body-oriented, helps clients who are “stuck” in the fight, flight or freeze response, and provides tools to resolve these physiological states. Another strategy we may use is hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy cannot erase traumatic events, but it can address the events and their effects. In a hypnotherapy session, the client is given multiple tools, resources, and opportunities to take back a sense of control.
Richard Pomper, LMFT, has more than 30 years of experience working with individuals. He is a Certified Hypnotherapist, Level I and II EMDR practitioner, and has training in Somatic Experiencing and Acceptance. He helps people understand the key to self-healing is self-regulation. When our brain and nervous system get out of balance because it has been overwhelmed by a frightening experience, we need to not be frightened by the sensations in our body but to welcome them which transforms our overwhelm, helplessness, and constrictions into empowerment. Richard Pomper, LMFT fosters a comfortable, safe, nurturing environment to give you the tools to manage trauma and how to utilize them.
If you would like to schedule an appointment or discuss any questions you may have about couples counseling, please phone me at 541-520-1535.