Much like abuse, experiences of trauma can be psychological, emotional, physical, and sexual. As well as somatic, visceral, historical, intergenerational, chronic and debilitating. Trauma affects the whole-ness of the individual and can be perceived and relived as real and now, long after the actual threat has subsided or resolved.

“Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. Their bodies are constantly bombarded by visceral warning signs, and, in an attempt to control these processes, they often become expert at ignoring their gut feelings and in numbing awareness of what is played out inside.

They learn to hide from their selves.
”

— Bessel A. van der Kolk

Because of this intensely real lived-experience, healing from trauma requires attention be paid to the whole body. Fortunately, there are interventions and therapy modalities focused on doing this very thing.

Grounding is a technique for helping individuals learn to master control of their body when it reacts in crisis. The focus is on noticing the triggers the body and mind are giving you, and to attend to calming them through employing intentional tools designed to keep your body and mind present. Breathing, focusing on surroundings, counting, biofeedback are all examples of skills you may learn in managing the anxiety and body experiences of trauma.
Containment is an exercise in regulating emotions, and controlling the processing of trauma, by having individuals use imagery of a container to "hold" their trauma. The container activity in therapy sessions can be used to facilitate the controlled access to the traumatic events, allowing clients to "pull out" and "put away" the memories safely.
Self-Care this is a phrase often used out in the world, but rarely is it employed in meaningful ways. In trauma work, the use of self-care really is a call to increase self-awareness. Learning to listen to our bodies, and "hear" what our bodies are telling us about our stress and distress allows us to become more intentional about meeting our bodies needs. Working with your therapist, you can develop a workable self-care plan that can reduce the experience of trauma trigger responses.

At Paradigm Counseling, we offer an evidenced-based therapy treatment for trauma called: Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET). This therapy intervention typically follows a 12- week trajectory, and incorporates the use of physical objects to represent your life-line, your memories of happy times, and your experiences of trauma. NET does not work by taking the memories of trauma away; instead, it works to reintegrate the experiences into a new life story that validates the past lived experience, and supports the individual now in creating a new agency for themselves within their story. Through this process, clients often see a significant reduction in their response to their triggers and PTSD or anxiety-related symptoms.

You can read more about NET by clicking here.