Therapist for Trauma
Psychological trauma can happen after a dangerous or life-threatening event. Many people associate psychological trauma with soldiers getting “shell-shock” after surviving intense skirmishes, but the truth is, anyone can suffer from it. Any kind of assault, accident or deeply stressful situation can traumatise a person, which is always an enormous struggle to deal with.
Those suffering from trauma might have regular panic attacks, extreme anxiety or even Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Symptoms of PTSD include vivid flashbacks, nightmares, sudden mood swings, depressive episodes, and uncontrolled “fight-or-flight” responses to everyday situations. For some, the symptoms may not be so obvious, but they might experience low self-esteem or relationship difficulties.
Untreated, PTSD can lead to violence, substance abuse, unemployment, family issues and possibly suicidal tendencies. Our lead trauma counsellor, Deborah Potts, is highly experienced in dealing with trauma survivors and has spent 22 years of her career as a nurse and health visitor in the British Army.
What can cause Trauma and PTSD?
While PTSD is best known for being associated with those who have seen active service with the military, this and other forms of debilitating psychological trauma can occur after a variety of scenarios.
The common thread throughout all of these situations is that the individual is imminently threatened by some outside force that’s beyond their control and, as such, they feel helpless and victimised by the tragic circumstances. A trained PTSD counsellor can help to alleviate these feelings of helplessness.
Personal injury, through accidents or assaults
Whether you have been randomly attacked, mugged or caught in a road accident, you could be traumatised in some way.
Witnessing a traumatic event, such as a natural disaster or violent crime
You do not necessarily have to be the only victim of a crime or disaster to be traumatised – sometimes, simply witnessing these troubling events can be mentally scarring.
Going through a life-threatening medical condition or surgery
Living with a debilitating medical condition and dealing with the surgical procedures needed to fight it off can be soul-destroying. It can leave you with lasting mental and physical scars.
Seeing someone you care for going through a traumatic experience themselves
If you know somebody else who is going through a traumatic experience, their pain and distress can be unintentionally transferred onto others.
Contact us to ask how Human Givens therapy helps with Trauma
With Human Givens therapy, you do not have to sit and recount every traumatic experience you’ve been dealt (unless you feel that would aid your recovery). Instead, we use a “toolbox” of therapeutic interventions and methods to de-arouse your perception of the event that triggers you. The treatment is less intrusive and time-consuming than other trauma therapy techniques.
To see how our approved trauma therapy and PTSD counselling treatments really work, please get in touch with Deborah Potts Counselling today. We guarantee fast and effective treatment for all clients.
As a special thank you to our servicemen and women, we offer FREE counselling and trauma treatment to armed forces veterans through the national charity PTSD Resolution (www.ptsdresolution.org). So, if you know any ex-service personnel, TA personnel or families of personnel, do not hesitate to contact us and we will provide our treatments in the strictest confidence.
Secondary Trauma Counselling
While there is a greater understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and treatment for it is becoming more widely available, there is a knock-on effect that few people know about: secondary trauma.
Two groups might be subject to secondary trauma. Firstly, someone living with or supporting a person with PTSD might themselves begin to experience PTSD-like symptoms of their own. Secondly, those working in jobs that regularly expose them to traumatic events – like those in the emergency services – may also begin to experience symptoms (though some experts argue that this is a form of primary trauma).
The logic behind the secondary trauma diagnosis is clear when you think about it. Constantly seeing someone close to you reacting to the causes and trigger points of their PTSD can itself have a damaging psychological impact on the people around them. If this sounds similar to your current situation a therapist for trauma can be provided to help with whatever vicarious issues you are facing.
Treating Secondary Trauma
The way we use Human Givens therapy to treat secondary trauma is similar to how we deal with primary cases of PTSD. After all, many of the symptoms will be the same, being one or several of the following:
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Nightmares
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Anger
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Depression
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Low self-esteem
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Relationship difficulties
A case of secondary trauma may not trigger flashbacks – a key problem for those with primary PTSD – since the client was not involved in the original scarring event. If left untreated, secondary trauma might lead to complications such as substance abuse, violence, unemployment and family issues.
Contact us to find out how Human Givens therapy can help with Secondary Trauma
With Human Givens therapy, we use our toolbox of therapeutic techniques to “der-arouse” the trigger for the diagnosis. It’s like resetting the wires, so your perception of the circumstances and consequences become more rational.
The treatment in no way belittles whatever situation caused the PTSD that a secondary trauma client encounters. Crucially, the Human Givens approach doesn’t pressure clients into recounting the stress of discussing their PTSD-suffering friend’s original traumatic experiences, unless they really want to get it off their chests.
Please get in touch with us today to see how Human Givens treatment offers a fast and well-tested solution to anyone suffering from secondary trauma. And remember, we offer FREE counselling and trauma treatment for armed forces veterans through the national charity PTSD Resolution.