Unfortunately, many people throughout their lifetime will go through a traumatic experience. It can happen to anyone and for any reason. Trauma can have a profound impact on somebody’s life and cause them to experience debilitating symptoms and cause a lot of distress and turmoil.

There is no timeline for when someone may begin experiencing trauma after it occurs. It could be the week after, or symptoms may take months or years to develop. Even though there is no timeline for when symptoms can begin, we can say this — it doesn’t matter when it happened; anyone can heal from trauma.

In our last blog post, we talked about the signs and symptoms of PTSD. This post will focus on how PTSD or trauma can be treated.

Treatment Options For PTSD

There is no right or wrong way to treat trauma. There are a lot of different treatment options that can help someone heal from trauma. Most often, it is just a matter of finding what is effective for each individual person because everyone will respond differently. These are some of the most common treatment options.

Talk Therapy

Traditional therapy is a great place to begin if you have never been to therapy, especially after a traumatic experience. When you aren’t used to discussing the traumatic experience, other types of therapy can initially seem intimidating to a new beginner.

The great thing about talk therapy is that you don’t always have to discuss the trauma you have gone through. If there is a week when your anxiety is ramping up or you are having issues in your relationship, talk therapy can also help you with those issues.

CBT

CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, is useful when someone doesn’t want to focus so much on the traumatic experience. It’s beneficial for those who recognize they went through something traumatic and want to focus on the present and future instead. It helps people to see the connection between thoughts, feelings, emotions,  and problems. It can help someone change how they view the problem/traumatic experience and shift everything else into a healthier pattern.

EMDR

EMDR is the most widely recognized treatment option for treating PTSD. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) was founded specifically to help those who went through a traumatic experience.

It is based on the science of our brain and how it processes memories. During the deepest stage of sleep, REM, our brains process the most memories and feelings. It’s during this sleep state that scientists discovered that the eye rapidly moves back and forth as it processes everything.

In EMDR therapy, a therapist uses this as a foundation to help someone reprocess the traumatic memory until it is no longer painful.

How Long Does Treatment Take?

This is a complex question that we get asked often, but unfortunately, we don’t have a concrete answer. Just as there is no one-size-fits-all approach to trauma treatment, the amount of time it can take varies greatly.

It varies on each individual person, what they went through, and the type of therapy they are choosing to go to. Methods such as EMDR therapy may go faster than traditional talk therapy, but it won’t be an overnight process.

Treating trauma is complex because the way it impacts someone is complicated. It impacts someone’s mental health and affects their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. It also can have an effect on somebody’s physical health and cause symptoms such as insomnia, stomach issues, or nightmares.

If you went through something traumatic, we can tell you that there is hope that you will find healing and can move forward. Let’s connect soon to help you find the best option for healing with trauma therapy.