Trauma and PTSD

When most people hear the word trauma, they think of horrific events like what soldiers witness, rape, or car accidents. While these are all traumas, trauma really is defined as any experience we go through that impacts us negatively. Some of these experiences diminish our self-worth while others leave us feeling a loss of control or safety. If you look at the belief checklist below, you will connect to at least a few. Those that you connect with most likely developed from your own traumas.

—I am not good enough
—I am a bad person
—I am shameful
—I am terrible
—I am worthless/inadequate
—I don’t deserve love/I'm unlovable
—I am permanently damaged
—I am ugly
—I deserve bad things/to be miserable
—I am stupid
—I am insignificant
—I am a disappointment
—I deserve to die
—I am different/don’t belong
—I cannot trust anyone
—I am in danger
—I am not safe
—It is not ok to feel or show my emotions
—I am powerless/helpless
—I am not in control
—I cannot get what I want
—I cannot stand up for myself
—I am a failure
—I cannot succeed
—I have to be perfect

You were not born with these beliefs. These beliefs came from experiences in your life that impacted you negatively. Some of these events might have been feeling embarrassed in middle school, being bullied, or simply left out of a group. These events, while not as grave as rape or war, are still trauma if they leave a negative impact on the individual experiencing them. This is the difference between what we call big T traumas and little t traumas. Some of the big T traumas leave us with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) while some of the little t traumas leave us with negative beliefs about ourselves that might be impacting our entire lives without realizing it.

PTSD often involves re-experiencing the traumatic event through intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, or distress when exposed to reminders of the traumatic event. One of the key symptoms of PTSD is avoidance. This means that trauma victims tend to push away emotions, people, places, activities, or situations associated with the trauma. Whether you are struggling with PTSD symptoms or just the negative beliefs about yourself due to a little t trauma, there is hope!

So how do we treat trauma? We are contacted every week by someone struggling with the aftermath of both big T and little t traumas. Most are frustrated because they have seen many therapists or have tried many forms of traditional talk therapies with no improvement. That is because talk therapies target the prefrontal cortex, but that is not where trauma is stored. We store trauma in the mid brain and to actually heal trauma we need to use a therapy that helps us access this part of the brain. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) allows a client to process the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions that got stored in the mid brain during a traumatic event. During an EMDR session, the client will recall upsetting aspects of a memory while the therapist guides the client in eye movements. These eye movements are the same eye movements that our body naturally does during REM sleep. The client is fully present and aware during the session, but at the same time able to access parts of the trauma that have caused distress and need reprocessing. Doing this calms the nervous system which allows the body to heal as the brain heals by remembering the trauma in a more adaptive way. Research has shown that EMDR is the most efficient way to treat trauma and has come to be known as the gold standard for trauma treatment.

There is still a perception that seeking mental health treatment is a sign of weakness. This could not be further from the truth. We all have different life experiences that developed into negative beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. Listen to the testimonials from our brave clients who sought out EMDR treatment to help heal their minds and bodies.