Trauma Treatment.

We practice with consideration of the Mind-Body connection, as such treat Trauma in a holistic way tailored to your circumstance and trauma experience. We practice Trauma Sensitive and Trauma Informed Care ensuring that we do no further harm, and approach your response to Trauma in a hopeful and non-judgemental way.

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What is Trauma?

We can experience many events during our lives which we can describe as traumatic. Traumatic events are typically when we experience actual or threatened physical or psychological harm, and this can be to self or also to others.  

Throughout our lifetime we may all experience various events which may to some extent elicit a trauma response, however, at times these responses pass with time without needing any intervention to help address our traumatic responses and reactions.  It isn’t unusual, however, for these responses to keep going, and to therefore need some support from professionals who can help address the common symptoms that are arising in reposes to the trauma.

Treatment for Trauma

It’s important to remember there is not just a one fits all ‘treatment’ for Trauma, this is a very complex and multifaceted response to very distressing and overwhelming situations, and so it really does come down to what works for you. No two people are the same, and what may work for you may not work for someone else.

We are a Trauma Informed Practice

At our practice we believe in the Mind-Body connection, as such treat Trauma in a holistic way tailored to YOUR circumstance and trauma experience. We also practice trauma sensitive and trauma informed care ensuring that we do no further harm, and approach your response to trauma in a hopeful and non-judgemental way.

We hold in mind that “being truly heard and seen by the people around us, feeling that we are held in someone’s mind and heart” (Van der Kolk, 2014) is a crucial part of our therapy stance, and that a visceral/body feeling of safety is crucial for our physiology and nervous system to calm, heal and grow, which we hope to achieve in therapy.

How does the Mind & Body respond to Trauma?

Re-experiencing the event - where the traumatic event is replayed, and can happen in the form of:

  • Flashbacks

  • Dreams/ nightmares

  • Ruminating

Hyper-arousal - ‘fight/flight’ response activation & increased startle response

  • Always being on the lookout for something to go wrong or “bad about to happen”

  • General irritability and frustration

  • Becoming angry very quickly

  • Getting startled by loud noises

  • Difficulty sleeping

  • Difficulty concentrating or focussing on one thing

Hypo-arousal - ‘freeze’ response, dissociation and shutting down

  • emotional numbness

  • feeling disconnected from people, your surroundings, your body

  • feeling paralysed and not able to move

4 Types of Trauma

There can be different ways in which trauma can occur, here are 4 types of Trauma:

1) Simple Trauma - experiencing a one-time traumatic event such as a car accident, a house fire, a natural disaster event (Bushfires, floods, earthquakes and cyclones)

2) Complex Trauma - experiencing several, or a lifetime worth of, repeated traumatic events.

3) Vicarious Trauma - can occur when hearing, seeing, and learning about the experiences of people who have experienced traumatic events.

4) Moral Trauma - something that we have observed or participated in that violates our morals such as witnessing the harming of others, or when Police Officers make decisions that affect the survival of others, or Medical Practitioners not being able to care for all who are harmed.

The Poly Vagal Theory — How & Why Trauma gets stored in the Body

In 1994 Stephen Porges introduced Polyvagal Theory which related to the large Vagus nerve which connects numerous organs in the body such as the brain, lungs, heart, stomach and intestines. Polyvagal Theory helps us understand more about the “freeze” responses we can experience in response to trauma, where the nervous system is overwhelmed and starts to ‘shut down’ as a way to protect us.

Bessel van der Kolk states that Porges theory moved us beyond just understanding the fight and flight response and “put social relationships front and centre of our understanding of trauma”. He highlights that “Being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health; safe connections are fundamental to a meaningful and satisfying life”.

As a result our practitioners are thoughtful of the therapeutic relationship and it’s role in supporting a meaningful and positive experience for you as you work through your trauma experience.

+ Additional Resources for Trauma.

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our best Recommended Videos for Trauma ↓

What is Trauma?

Healing Trauma

Vagus Nerve Yoga

How to heal from Trauma

our best Recommended Apps for Trauma ↓

Smiling Mind: Free mindfulness app

—
our best Recommended Organisations for Trauma ↓

Blue Knot Foundation: 1300 657 380
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