Trauma-informed counseling in Idaho Falls involves local therapists who are trained to deliver mental health counseling services without triggering or re-traumatizing someone who has been through trauma. Trauma-informed counselors understand how trauma can impact behavior and mental health.
Are you or a loved one trying to recover from something traumatic? Perhaps you are not sure if your experience is considered traumatic. In either case, keep reading to see why trauma-informed counseling is a safe way to seek treatment.
This Meraki Healthcare article will explain trauma-informed counseling, give an overview of trauma, and explain why it is important.
What Is Trauma-Informed Counseling?
Trauma-informed counseling recognizes that experiencing traumatic events or situations impacts your emotional, behavioral, and mental health. Trauma-informed counseling aims to avoid triggering you or re-traumatizing you as you seek therapy.
What is Trauma?
While the DSM-5 limits Trauma to experienced or witnessed events where there is actual or threatened death, sexual violation, or serious injury, trauma-informed therapists also recognize a wider definition of trauma.
For example, the CDC also recognizes Adverse Childhood Events as traumatic stressors that impact your health and well-being. This definition includes emotional abuse as well.
Trauma-informed therapists don’t wait to discover whether or not you have experienced something that “counts” as traumatic. These therapists approach all clients as though there is trauma in their past and remain sensitive and compassionate.
Response to Experiences vs. Trauma
Many therapists do not worry about whether your experience qualifies as traumatic according to the DSM-5 or strict criteria. Rather, trauma-informed therapists try to understand how your experiences have shaped your behavior and emotions. They evaluate if an experience was traumatic to you.
Here are some signs that something you experienced may have been traumatic to you and is influencing your mental and emotional well-being:
“Reliving” or experiencing flashbacks of something that happened
Feeling isolated, alone, or detached from others
Trouble sleeping or having nightmares
Being easily startled
Hypervigilance
Feeling very negative towards oneself or others
Trouble remembering
Not being able to concentrate or focus
Becoming irritable or having angry outbursts
Extreme reactions
Losing interest in things you once enjoyed
Feeling guilty, worried, ashamed, or sad
Frightening thoughts
Physical symptoms like stomach upset and headaches
Avoiding memories, thoughts, or feelings related to the experience
Many of these signs and symptoms also correspond to other conditions like depression and anxiety. If you feel like an experience was traumatic and influencing your mental health, the best thing to do is to find a local licensed mental health counselor and discuss your concerns.
Why Is Trauma-Informed Counseling Important?
Trauma-informed therapy is important because our traumatic experiences and responses to them influence our behavior and mental health. Without healing from these traumas, finding a more stable or better state of mental health is more difficult or even impossible.
Finding Trauma-Informed Counseling in Idaho Falls
Meraki Healthcare in Idaho Falls offers trauma-informed counseling services in an environment that aims to make providers and clients comfortable and welcome. Our counselors are compassionate and willing to help Idaho Falls and the surrounding communities seek healing from trauma.
Call (208)-643-5343 during regular business hours to schedule an appointment or join our waitlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is trauma-informed therapy different from regular therapy?
Trauma-informed therapy incorporates additional patience and compassion. Therapy goals and treatment may proceed more slowly to allow for healing and a reduction in trauma responses. Regular therapy often focuses on specific work or life functionality goals over a short time.
Is CBT the same thing as Trauma Therapy?
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is one type of therapy that a licensed mental health counselor, social worker, or psychologist may use. Trauma therapy includes a wide range of options, such as EMDR, Sand Tray, DBT, etc. Many therapists employ more than one method in treating trauma.
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