Trauma Therapy on Long Island
“Trauma is hell on earth. Trauma resolved is a gift from the gods.”
— Peter A. Levine
Trauma Therapy
Trauma has lasting physical and emotional effects that can leave you tired, jumpy, anxious, feeling ashamed, exposed, insecure, and wondering who you can trust. We can’t control everything that happens to us, or how we are affected by these events. However, we can help you become better at managing your trauma and reducing the symptoms associated with it.
The Nature of Trauma
Many of us experience trauma after an intense experience that may affect our mental, behavioral, and emotional well-being. Trauma can live with you for your entire life, affecting you below the surface as well as manifesting itself through your personality, your actions, and your thoughts. Often, people report not remembering a traumatic experience, but through therapy the memories start to drift back.
The goal of trauma therapy is to address the underlying symptoms of trauma.
The nature of the traumatic experience isn’t always as important as the effect it has on your mind and body. We can’t undo what we have experienced, but we certainly can become better at managing our feelings around that experience in order to live a more peaceful existence.
Benefits of Trauma Therapy
For anyone dealing with trauma, therapy that specifically targets that aspect of their mental health is incredibly beneficial. First and foremost, you can learn more about trauma itself and how it can affect people, no matter their background. When you understand how trauma manifests itself, you’ll be more equipped to identify your triggers and establish a sense of safety in your daily life.
Furthermore, trauma therapy can help you develop the healthy coping skills you need in order to manage your symptoms. Knowing the cause and the methods behind the therapy helps decrease traumatic stress symptoms, and stimulates the processing of your trauma in positive ways.
Spotlight: Cognitive Processing & EMDR
We find that both cognitive processing and EMDR are especially helpful for patients who have experienced trauma.
Cognitive processing aims to heal the harm caused by a traumatic experience. Your therapist will help you zero in on the thoughts and feelings associated with your trauma in an effort to “rewire” how your brain reacts to those thoughts. For many of our patients, cognitive processing has helped them move past their stuck points and move forward with a healthy set of skills to manage their existing and any future trauma.
EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is another tactic we use to combat trauma. EMDR is more structured and involves specific activities, like bilateral or tactile stimulation and right/left eye movement. It’s a form of neurophysiological therapy that helps clients resolve issues without having to talk about them.
FAQs
How do I know if I have trauma?
Trauma is often followed by a series of symptoms, which may include unwanted memories, avoidance of people or situations, mental discomfort, and problems remembering the traumatic experience. People also report feeling anger and having a negative self-image. Although “trauma” once only referred to large-scale events like sexual assault, military combat, or car accidents, in recent years, we understand trauma to have a much more widespread effect than this. We now understand that the accumulation of smaller moments where we felt unsafe and unprotected creates another sense of complex trauma.
EMDR sounds interesting but I’m afraid of losing control of myself. How do I know if EMDR is right for me?
If you feel any of the symptoms described above, then EMDR might be something worth trying. EMDR is definitely not your normal talk therapy, but that’s what’s so interesting about it. Of course, the goal is always to make you feel comfortable and safe, so we would have a conversation about what it would entail and then you would be able to make your decision.
What can I do outside of therapy to help me with my trauma?
Our two main tips are: stay active and don’t self-isolate. Working out, doing yoga, and even meditating can be effective at releasing endorphins and maintaining your physical health, not to mention reclaiming your felt sense of safety within your physical body. Going out and making new friends can always be helpful in fulfilling your emotional and social needs.
Do I have to talk about my trauma?
Of course not. While talking is beneficial to both yourself and your therapist because they get to know your story better, we understand that trauma is a serious situation and we would never want to make you talk about something you’re not comfortable doing so.
It is however incredibly empowering to own your story and to re-shape the narrative as you see fit. When you begin to talk about what happened to you, the trauma loses its power over you and you are able to resume control.