Healing From Within: Exploring Trauma Therapy Techniques
Blog written by Christoffer Loderup, Licensed Therapist at Shade Tree Family Counseling
What is Trauma?
Trauma can be defined as any consistently painful emotional experience that someone has adapted to. This includes significant traumas such as life-threatening experiences, natural disasters, military trauma, first responder trauma, and abuse.
It also encompasses more subtle experiences like childhood neglect or feeling that your needs were not important as a child. Experiences are more likely to become traumatic if they are unescapable and if you didn’t have adequate support when going through them.
Trauma Treatment Techniques
There are two main approaches to trauma therapy, each addressing trauma in different ways. The (1) Top-Down Approach and the (2) Bottom-Up Approach.
Top-Down Approach: Building Skills for Regulation
The top-down approach focuses on developing skills for emotional regulation and addressing day-to-day symptoms. People who have experienced trauma often get triggered. Therapy can help individuals become aware of these triggers and respond in healthier ways.
It is crucial to have some regulatory skills in place before diving into deeper trauma therapy, as the process can unearth painful emotions. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills are particularly effective in this area. You can explore more about DBT skills here.
Bottom-Up Approach: Healing the Root Causes
The bottom-up approach addresses the root causes of trauma and aims to reprocess the traumatic experiences themselves. Three prominent techniques in this category are EMDR, ART, and IFS.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR):
EMDR involves identifying a difficult behavior or pattern you wish to change, exploring the core beliefs connected to that behavior, and then working through the experiences that led to those beliefs with the goal of developing healthier perspectives of the trauma.
For example, if you struggle to empathize with your partner, you might discover a core belief that it's unsafe to feel emotion, stemming from childhood experiences where showing emotion was met with anger. EMDR would help reframe these beliefs, allowing for healthier emotional expression. Learn more about EMDR here.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART):
Similar to EMDR, ART is a more structured approach that guides you through each step of the trauma-processing experience with your therapist. If you prefer a more structured approach to therapy, ART might be a good fit for you. Learn more about ART here.
Internal Family Systems (IFS):
IFS is a popular modality based on the idea that our personality is made up of different parts, each with its own beliefs and roles. For example, a person who is a perfectionist would be viewed as having a perfectionistic part that fears not doing everything perfectly. A therapist trained in IFS would explore that part’s goals, and see what that part would need in order to let go of its job to do everything perfectly.
Additionally, the IFS modality teaches that all parts of us have good intentions. This is one of the most helpful aspects of IFS. For example, let's say there’s a drug addict who comes to therapy. An IFS therapist would explore with curiosity the part of them that uses drugs. Why does it feel it needs to use drugs? What would happen without the drugs? What does the part need to give up drugs?
Viewing oneself as having many different parts in them can feel a little unusual at first, but IFS is a powerful way to view and work through the negative core beliefs that develop from traumatic experiences. Learn more about IFS here.
Different Paths to the Same Goal
As you can see, each of the above modalities works to reframe the negative beliefs that develop from trauma. Healing looks like changing from believing “I can’t trust anyone” to “my father was abusive, but I can learn to trust others”. People change from thinking “I’m not worthy of love unless I’m perfect” to “Although I got conditional love from my parents, that wasn’t my fault… I matter no matter what… ”.
Each of the above methods has research supporting their effectiveness in treating trauma. If you're unsure which modality might work best for you, it's perfectly fine to try each one out. Different paths can lead to the same end goal.
Trauma therapy can lead to long-lasting healing. It helps people free themselves from the negative influences of their past to be their best selves.
Finding the Right Trauma Therapist
Finding the right therapist can take some effort, but it's worth it. Start by ensuring the trauma therapist is trained in the modalities you're interested in. Next, schedule a free 15-minute consultation, which can be an excellent opportunity to gauge their personality and determine if you'll click. Assuming the consultation goes well, set up a first appointment and begin your healing journey with Shade Tree Family Counseling!
As you begin trauma therapy, it is important to consider how your personality affects how you experience therapy. Reflect on how you relate to others and how you might respond to challenges in therapy. Discussing these tendencies with your therapist can improve the quality of therapy you receive.
In Summary
Healing from trauma involves understanding the different therapy techniques available, choosing the right modality for you, and finding a therapist you connect with. With the right support and approach, you can embark on a journey of healing and self-discovery.
Not Sure Where to Start? Heal from Trauma with the Help of Trauma Therapy in Salt Lake City, UT
Take the first step towards their recovery by reaching out to a qualified trauma recovery therapist at Shade Tree Family Counseling who specializes in trauma therapy. Your proactive approach can make a profound difference in your journey towards healing and resilience. Follow these three simple steps to get started:
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if Trauma Recovery Counseling is right for your teen
Begin meeting with a skilled trauma therapist
Start your healing journey!
Other Services Offered at Shade Tree Family Counseling
At Shade Tree Family Counseling, we want to provide support for the whole family. So in addition to helping you cope and begin healing from trauma in Trauma Therapy, our team offers teen counseling for teens struggling to overcome depression, anxiety, family conflict, and more. We also provide Teen Group Therapy for teens looking for extra support from those their own age. For more about trauma therapy check out our blog!
