Trauma

Trauma can be defined as a person's emotional response to a distressing experience that they feel exceeds their capacity to cope with. Traumatic experiences can be a sexual or physical assault, and they can also be things like experiencing a natural disaster, the sudden death of a loved one, or being in a serious car accident. Traumatic events involve a serious threat to life and take away one’s sense of safety and control in the world.

Survivors of traumatic events often have recurring intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, or nightmares about what they have experienced. It is not uncommon for a person who has gone through a traumatic event to notice they are avoiding anything that may remind them of their trauma or experience a negative shift in their mood. Through the use of trauma-focused CBT, psychoeducation, building self-compassion, self-love, and an increased sense of safety, survivors can get back to living their lives without being controlled emotionally or behaviorally by their traumatic experiences.