Treatment of Trauma

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Simple Trauma

Experiencing a one-time traumatic event such as a car accident, a house fire, a natural disaster.

Complex Trauma

Experiencing several, or a lifetime worth of, repeated traumatic events.

Vicarious Trauma

Can occur when hearing, seeing, and learning about the experiences of people who have experienced traumatic events.

Moral Trauma

something that we have observed or participated in that violates our morals such as witnessing the harming of others.

Kelly has been running DBT Programs since 2004. She is intensively training in DBT and has completed Level 3 practitioner training in Radically Open DBT (RO DBT).

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.

This practice uses trauma informed somatic approaches which are a holistic technique to address the underlying trauma affecting the physical, emotional and mental health of individuals.

1

Re-experiencing the event

Where the traumatic event is replayed, and can happen in the form of:

  • Flashbacks
  • Dreams/ nightmares
  • Ruminating
2

Hyper-arousal:

Fight/flight’ response activation and increased startle response

  • Always being on the lookout for something “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
3

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

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”.

This practice is for those who want to gain more tools and skills in effectively addressing trauma patterns by providing a comprehensive and holistic framework to address stored trauma in the body.

    DBT and Trauma Specialist
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