Trauma is a distressing experience that can have long-lasting effects on your mental health and well-being. According to SAMHSA, 51% of women and 61% of men report traumatic experiences at least once in their lifetimes. It can be caused by various events, from physical or emotional abuse to natural disasters or accidents.
Regardless of the source, trauma can leave deep scars that may impact every aspect of your life, from your relationships and work to your overall sense of self. Fortunately, many effective emotional and psychological trauma treatments are available to help you.
These treatments can vary depending on the nature and severity of the trauma and your personal preferences and needs. This article will discuss the different emotional and psychological treatment types that can improve the quality of your life. So, let’s delve into the details!
Treatment Options for Trauma
Several medications and treatments help you get rid of the symptoms and side effects of your traumatic experience. These 3 stages of trauma treatment include:
- Psychotherapy
- Neurological Therapies
- Medications
Let’s discuss each of them in detail to determine what suits your needs!
PsychotherapyÂ
Psychotherapy is a mental health treatment involving talking with a trained mental health professional, such as a psychologist. The goal of psychotherapy is to help you improve your worsened mental health. It aims at addressing issues such as emotional distress, behavior patterns, and relationship difficulties.
Here are the types of emotional and psychological trauma treatment involved in psychotherapy:
Cognitive Processing Therapy
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a cognitive-behavioral therapy designed to help people who have experienced traumatic events. According to National Center for Biotechnology, CPT is a recommended treatment for PTSD. The goal of CPT is to help you change your negative thoughts and beliefs about your traumatic experience and its effects on your life. During therapy sessions, you learn to identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts and beliefs that make you “stuck” in a negative state.
The therapy involves working through the emotions associated with the traumatic event. You also get to learn coping strategies for dealing with those emotions effectively. CPT typically involves 12-16 weekly sessions with a trained professional and may be delivered in individual or group settings.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy
Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) is a type of psychotherapy used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related disorders. It is based on the idea that avoiding trauma-related thoughts, feelings, and situations can maintain and even worsen PTSD symptoms. Therefore, the goal of PE is to help you tackle and gradually reduce your avoidance of these trauma-related stimuli.
The therapist helps you safely confront your traumatic experiences during PE therapy sessions by guiding you through exercises. These exercises involve revisiting the traumatic event through talking, writing, and imagining the event in detail.
When confronting your traumatic memories and feelings, you can learn to tolerate and reduce your emotional distress. PE is typically delivered in 8-15 weekly or biweekly sessions and is an effective treatment for PTSD and related symptoms.
Neurological Therapy
Many people may not know this, but most PTSD or other depression disorders are neurological. So, neurological therapy can be an effective emotional trauma depression treatment.
Let’s discuss the different neurological therapy options that can help you get rid of your traumatic thoughts!
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is an approach that was developed in the late 1980s by psychologist Francine Shapiro. The EMDR helps you reduce your PTSD by processing and releasing them through eye movement. During EMDR therapy, you are asked to recall a traumatic event while simultaneously following the therapist’s hand movements or bilateral stimulation.
The theory behind EMDR is that bilateral stimulation helps to stimulate the brain’s natural information-processing mechanisms. This allows you better integrate and process the traumatic memory. EMDR leads to a reduction in the intensity of negative emotions and symptoms associated with the trauma.
Emotional Freedom Technique
Another emotional and psychological trauma treatment is the Emotional Freedom Technique. EFT, also known as tapping, is a therapeutic technique that combines elements of Eastern medicine and Western psychology to address emotional and physical issues. The technique involves tapping on specific meridian points on the body while focusing on particular issues like anxiety or depression. This technique says tapping on these points can balance the body’s energy system and reduce the emotional intensity of traumas.
According to NIH, EFT also reduces your cortisol level: a hormone that induces stress. It is a non-invasive and relatively simple technique that can be self-administered or performed with the help of a trained practitioner. Within 4 to 10 sessions, you learn how to tap specific rhythms on your hands, head, and face to reduce stress.
- Medications
If the above therapies aren’t helping, you can try the following medication after consultation with your doctor to counter your trauma symptoms.
Stellate Ganglion Block Injections
Another type of emotional and psychological trauma treatment is the usage of Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) injections. This is a minimally invasive treatment and doesn’t harm the body in any way. SGB is typically known to treat PTSD but also treats other things like migraines, anxiety, and depression. Furthermore, this treatment has a very high success ratio, and three out of every four patients with PTSD show positive results.Â
Here’s how the SGB treatment works:
- First, the doctor will inject local anesthesia into your neck nerves.
- The injection procedure takes around 10 to 15 minutes and is performed via image guidance to ensure maximum accuracy.
The overall procedure takes around one hour in the stress and trauma treatment center. Most patients report a sense of calmness and safety soon after their first dosage. You will observe fewer panic attacks and a reduction in your PTSD symptoms. Additionally, you can go for a second dosage 4 to 8 weeks after the first appointment.
Integrative Trauma Treatment Center
Traumatic experiences can adversely affect your life. That’s why it’s essential to get proper treatment for them at the earliest. The Stellate Ganglino Block injections are helpful in this regard and aid you in getting rid of your PTSD and other traumatic experiences.
Board-certified doctors Dr. Jyothi Rao and Dr. Sudhir Rao can help you with your trauma treatment! With careful examination, medically-proven and time-tested treatments, dedicated care, and proper after-care follow-ups, we ensure to offer quality treatment to our patients.
Everyone has different experiences and requires different treatments; that’s why we hear every patient with the utmost attention and responsibility. If you want us to hear your case and help you overcome it, feel free to contact us any time!