Cynthia Henrie, MFT
LIFE CAN
STRIKE OUT
AT
YOU & LEAVE YOU
FEELING ZAPPED!
In this section you will learn about the impact and effects psychological trauma. Psychological trauma impacts, alters and colors all aspects of your life. There are several excellent forms of treatment for psychological trauma that will help you. You'll be able to form better relationships, live a more fulfilled life without fear, let go of addictions, panic attacks, nightmares, depression, anxiety and many of the physical symptoms in your body. Whether you have survived a single traumatic incident such as a car accident, been a victim of a violent crime, witnessed a crime, or have been a survivor of multiple traumas, such as child abuse, there are therapies that will help tremendously. The forms of treatment that I utilize are designed specifically for trauma survivors.
For some of you, you have been to therapy many times, for others this is your first exploration. I am different than the majority of therapists you will find. I use many techniques to treat trauma, because it requires the use of a variety of techniques. That is what will make therapy more successful for you. I am a trauma expert. It makes a difference. Call me. I can help!
What You'll Find in the "Trauma Pages": Facts About Trauma What to Expect After a Traumatic Event Pain Avoidance Child Abuse Do I Need Therapy?
Information Just for Teens What to do if You are Raped or Sexually Assaulted Addictions Love & Sexual Addictions Depression & Anxiety
Dissociation Fight/Flight Feigning Death How to Contact Me Helpful Links
There are many things in life that can be traumatizing. We experience emotional
trauma when we survive an incident or a pattern of events that threaten our
physical and/or emotional sense of safety and security. Some examples of traumatic
events may include child abuse, natural disasters or catastrophes, violent and
life-threatening crime, witnessing a violent event or homicide, the suicide
or homicide of a loved one,, car accidents, domestic violence, experiencing
serious injuries, the aftermath of surgery, the loss of a major relationship,
rape, assault, war, illnesses and disease, gang violence, etc. Traumatic incidents
can effect our personal relationships, our ability to cope with the routine
demands of work and school, as well as our health and mental wellbeing. In 
some
cases, such as in times of war or natural disaster, the loss of housing, employment,
or other major life circumstances can have devastating consequences for our
entire existence. Even the loss of a major relationship can cause such profound
life changes that the trauma of the loss can completely overwhelm us. Trauma
has serious implications for all aspects of our lives. For example, it isn't
uncommon for our most important relationships to breakdown following a major
traumatic life event; many people experience dropping grades in school, employment
problems and may have a major physical problem arise during a highly stressful
time. It is during these times that therapy may be helpful in aiding you through
the emotional ups and downs that trauma can cause.
Therapy
may help preserve your important relationships, provide you with an outlet so
that you are able to function at work or school, and help keep you grounding
when so many different things can pull your attention away from maintaining
your life.
Some
traumas are single incidents that overwhelm our ability to cope temporarily,;
other traumas are chronic, the traumatic incidents reoccur over and over, such
as in the case of long term child abuse or war. Single incident
traumas may include a car
accident, a natural disaster, rape, assault, or witnessing a violent crime,
or the loss of a loved one. It is most common following single events that you
will experience major emotional distress and then be able to return to your
normal daily routine with time. Some people find that following a single traumatic
event, they continue to have emotional distress and their daily function is
disrupted for long periods of time. Typically, the more life-threatening an
event is, the more traumatizing it will be. This is a general rule. For example,
a person who witnesses a car accident is likely to be less traumatized than
the person who is involved in the car accident, however, witnessing a major
car accident involving a loved one is going to be more traumatic than witnessing
a car accident involving a stranger. The car accident involved your loved one
threatens your emotional safety and well-being. It hits closer to home and thus
will be more traumatic for you.
Chronic
trauma is disruptive in a
different way than single incident trauma. Chronic trauma, such as ongoing child abuse, sexual
abuse, being a survivor of domestic violence, or coping with a difficult
divorce/break-up, may not have the same kind of symptoms that surviving a single incident trauma
has. In single incident
traumas, you are more likely to have symptoms of nightmares, flashbacks,
daydreaming about the trauma, and sudden emotional waves associated with the traumatic incident after the event. You may avoid going to the place where the
trauma occurred or want to avoid thinking about the incident in an effort to
"just get on with my life." In cases of chronic trauma, a person is in a
position of on-going captivity. Living in an abusive
household
creates an emotional climate of captivity, and in order to survive in this type
of environment, we adapt to the environment and learn to minimize the impact
that it has on our lives. For example, for a child who is being sexually abused
by his/her parent, the child is dependent upon the parent for his/her emotional and
physical survival. The child has a relationship with the abuser, the parent. The
child is going to learn ways to adapt to the environment for survival. This
child is less likely to have nightmares and flashbacks, although these symptoms
may occur, but what is more common is that the child is going to learn to
integrate aspects of the abusive situation as
normal, and later take these
aspects out into the world after the abuse has stopped. Whatever survival
mechanisms are learned in a
captivity situation, these are applied to non-captivity situations, making it
difficult to adjust to post-abusive
environments. Confusion, difficulty managing anger and sadness, anxiety, rage,
over-reactions and misperception of
your environment, body memories,
impaired memories and avoidance of thinking about abuse are more common of
chronic trauma survivor's experiences. Acting out behaviors like sexual
avoidance or promiscuity, fighting,
drug/alcohol abuse, etc. may also be a problem. Relational problems are also
very common.
Typically, we are very critical of ourselves when we are unable to function "normally." Unfortunately, trauma is a part of every person's life at some time, and yet some of us are overburdened with life's difficulties, more than others. There doesn't seem to be any reason why trouble strikes some people more than others, no matter how much people try to look for reasons for the uncontrollable. We all want to feel in control of our worlds, but sometimes things happen that are beyond our control. We like to look for the reasons why one child was abused, while another one wasn't, or why this women was battered over this other woman. Why was this man a victim of a violent crime, yet this other guy wasn't targeted by the assailant. The problem with these types of questions is that the question creates an assumption that the survivor is somehow responsible for being a survivor, and that the survivor could somehow prevent what had occurred. I believe it is something every survivor struggles with - the wish to have control over the uncontrollable. The problem is that the uncontrollable is just that, beyond your control. A woman who walks down the street in sweats is just as likely to be a victim of a sexual assault as a woman who is wearing a miniskirt and a halter top. Neither woman is doing something to become a victim. A person who rapes has his/her own psychological reasons for targeting one person over another. The blame lies in the assailant, not the survivor.
When you consider the impact of trauma on people, the very idea of trauma's impact is based upon the lack of one's control over events. This is key to what makes one feel overwhelmed, unsettled, shocked and disheartened. Not being able to control external events like natural disasters, war or another person's actions is the very reason people experience a sense of trauma and horror when they survive traumatic events. They lack control over the circumstances.
What makes
one person able to cope with tragedy and another struggle depends on many
factors. Having a
history of being abused throughout your early childhood and the loss or
disruption of early childhood bonds may have an impact
on a person's ability to cope later
in life. A person whose parent died when he was 5 may have more trouble when a
traumatic event occurs than a child who had his same parents through childhood.
Having a supportive network of
friends and family who understand you when you are in a crisis and who come
together to support one another can positively impact your ability to cope.
Having a calm, naturally positive type of temperament is another factor that
makes a person more resilient than others. Some people are born with
temperaments that make them able to deal with life tragedy better than others,
and some of 
us
were lucky enough to have families who taught us how to cope better with trouble
than others. If your family coped
with problems by coming together, being supportive of one another, comforting
each other and being constructive about seeking solutions to problems, you are
more likely to have an easier time adjusting to stress and loss than the person
who was raised by alcoholic and
violent parents. The person who had more stress and trauma in childhood is more
likely to have more problems when faced with a tragedy. Neither of these people
are to blame for their backgrounds, and learned coping and problem-solving
abilities. You are born with a certain amount of resiliency (ability to cope),
you learn skills from the people who raised you from childhood on and you can
learn better coping skills throughout your life that can assist you, but your
response to trauma typically comes from the combination of factors. Even people
whose families were good at problem-solving and being supportive of one another
may have major problems coping, because the temperament that they were born with
is the type that makes it harder to deal with crisis. Your ability to deal with
problems, crisis and tragedy is complicated.
Do you feel as though you walk around in a fog, time gets lost and you have no idea what has happened, or hear voices inside of your head? Does everything around you feel like you are just watching a movie but it doesn't feel like you are in the picture, only a part of you is even though you are there? Do you find things that you know you must have done or written, but cannot recall having done it, or it seems to be in someone else's handwriting? Do you lose big chunks of time? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you may have a dissociative disorder. Click on the Dissociation Link to learn more. I work with all kinds of dissociative problems, from routine mild dissociative problems like feeling like you are always in a walking dream, to severe dissociative problems. Contact me for a free initial consultation.
