In the United States, 70 percent of adults have experienced a traumatic event. That means there are 223 million people carrying the aftermath of unresolved trauma.
Are you one of them?
Unresolved trauma can have long-lasting negative effects. Side effects of trauma include depression, anxiety, inability to handle conflict, and more. Trauma can make doing the simplest tasks a major struggle.
Sometimes it feels impossible to get through the day.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Trauma-informed therapy is the life-changing solution you’ve been waiting for.
At Intensive Therapy Retreats, our step-by-step approach will help you process unresolved trauma. You deserve to transform your life and find lasting relief.
Tried meditation? Weekly therapy? Haven’t found anything that works?
The most effective and efficient way to process trauma is simple. Attend one of our trauma-informed mental health retreats. We’re here to help you finally move forward with your life.
Continue reading to find out how trauma-informed therapy works and why it is the best option.
What Is Trauma?
For those of us who are starting out on our trauma-resolution journey, we’ll begin with the basics. Trauma can be the result of many different kinds of negative experiences.
Child abuse, neglect, grief, and exposure to violence are traumatic experiences. Trauma can also result from cultural, historical, and ancestral trauma.
The effects of trauma manifest in many different ways. Everyone experiences trauma and the after-effects of it in their own unique way.
Physical Symptoms of Trauma
Some of the physical symptoms of trauma include chronic pain and headaches. Other physical symptoms are insomnia, constipation, diarrhea, and a suppressed immune system.
Emotional Symptoms of Trauma
The effects of trauma also extend to our emotional and mental wellbeing. Some emotional symptoms of trauma include violent mood swings, depression, anxiety, and rage.
Trauma can also result in survivor guilt. You may feel tendencies toward isolation, self-blame, and shame.
Want more information on how to manage trauma? Check out this infographic from the National Council for Behavioral Health.
What Is Trauma-Informed Therapy?
Trauma-informed therapy recognizes that trauma affects all parts of a person’s life.
This type of therapy promotes an atmosphere of healing and recovery. The goal of trauma-informed care therapy is to avoid accidental re-traumatization.
Trauma-informed therapy is unique.
It assumes that the average person is more likely than not to have some history of trauma. It enables us to be able to recognize the presence of trauma symptoms and the role they play in a person’s life.
Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with you?” trauma-informed therapy asks, “What happened to you?”
Benefits of Trauma-Informed Therapy
In therapy, you’ll learn about exactly what kind of trauma you are experiencing. You’ll also learn how to handle your particular trauma and develop healthy ways of coping.
Trauma-informed care helps you understand normal responses to trauma.
You’ll discover exactly how a traumatic event impacts the way you live your life. You’ll figure out why you have certain feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
Therapy names and explains your experiences, and reminds you that you are not alone.
Best of all, a trauma-informed therapeutic retreat will give you the results you seek in a matter of days. Traditional therapy takes years to yield significant results.
Principles of Trauma-Informed Care
There are five principles to trauma-informed care. These principles act as a framework to reduce the chances of re-traumatization.
The five principles are safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness, and empowerment.
Safety
It is important that therapists ensure patients experience physical and emotional safety. Therapists should provide a welcoming environment. Respect for patient privacy is key.
Choice
Individuals have control over their choices. They receive clear, appropriate messages about their rights and responsibilities.
Collaboration
Individuals and therapists share in the decision-making power. The individual also plays a major role in the planning and evaluation of their services.
Trustworthiness
Building a trustworthy relationship between individuals and service providers is key. It ensures that both parties uphold personal and professional boundaries. It is important that therapists model clear and consistent expectations.
Empowerment
Trauma-informed therapy prioritizes empowerment and skill-building. This happens in an atmosphere that makes individuals feel validated and affirmed.
Risks of Re-traumatization in Traditional Therapy
Re-traumatization is either a conscious or unconscious reminder of past trauma. It often feels like experiencing the trauma all over again.
This can have significant consequences.
Situations, environments, even an attitude or expression can trigger re-traumatization. You might have felt a loss of control, safety, or power during the original traumatizing event. You could feel the same things during the experience of re-traumatization.
In traditional therapeutic practices, the risk of re-traumatization is unfortunately high.
Traditional therapists ask their patients to recall traumatic events in detail. This is often to understand and learn from them. Recalling trauma can have devastating consequences for those who have suffered traumatic experiences.
Re-traumatization can even undo the work you’ve already done. It can set you back on your journey.
That’s why trauma-informed therapy is so vital to long-term healing and recovery.
Schedule Your Mental Health Retreat Today
Intensive Therapy Retreats offers full and half-day private mental health retreats. We address PTSD, trauma, child and sexual abuse.
We offer a unique, holistic approach to trauma-informed therapy. We believe our retreat is the best therapeutic investment you can make.
It is an investment in your own liberation.
Trust us, the solution you seek already exists. It’s waiting inside of you. Let Intensive Therapy Retreats manifest complete and lasting healing from your trauma.
Our trained professionals are here to answer any questions you may have. Schedule a call today.