All About Trauma Recovery by an Expert
Gail-Elaine Tinker, M.S. Psychotherapist
Are you a survivor of trauma? Are you coping with a range of behaviors from anger at self or others, dreams, sudden memory lapses or flashes to the trauma? Do you suffer body pain since the time of your trauma? Are you constantly battling stress and chaos due to poor decision making? Do you repeat patterns that you wish to stop? Are you feeling the urge to drink/drug, suicide or self harm? These and more are some of the indicators of Post-Traumatic Stress. Therapy with someone who is experienced can be the perfect investment in finally releasing yourself from the hold of this difficult condition. I would like to explain some fundamental concepts around trauma and post-traumatic stress because I believe the more a person understands, it increases their decision-making abilities.
In counseling, the word “trauma” is used to describe experiences which are emotionally painful, distressing, and overwhelm people’s ability to cope, leaving them feeling powerless. We wish that trauma was a rare phenomenon, but it happens all too frequently to people innocent and unsuspecting. It also happens to good people in the line of service of their jobs. It does not discriminate to age, race, intelligence, training, preparedness, and can happen repeatedly.
“Trauma theory” is a relatively recent concept that emerged in the health care environment during the 1970s, mostly in connection with studies of Vietnam veterans and other survivor groups (such as Holocaust survivors, abused women and children, disaster survivors, refugees, victims of sexual assault)“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” was added as a new category in the American Psychiatric Association official manual of mental disorders in 1980. Trauma theory represents a fundamental shift in thinking from the idea that those who have experienced psychological trauma are either “sick” or deficient in moral character to the re-frame that they are “injured” and in need of healing, in terms of psychotherapy and possibly medication.
In addition to terrifying events such as accidents, disasters, violence, and assault, it is suggested that relatively more subtle and insidious forms of trauma, such as discrimination, racism, oppression, and poverty are pervasive trauma and, when experienced chronically, have a cumulative impact that can be fundamentally life-altering. Particular forms of trauma, such as intentional violence and/or witnessing violence, sustained discrimination, poverty, and ensuing chaotic life conditions are directly related to chronic fear and anxiety, with serious long-term effects on health and other life outcomes.
Childhood and Adolescent trauma are particularly harmful. There is research indicating that the brains of children who are exposed to chronic trauma and stress and wired differently than children whose experiences have been more secure. When experiencing stress, the brain’s “fight or flight” response is activated through increased production of the powerful hormone cortisol. While cortisol production can be protective in emergencies, in situations of chronic stress its level is toxic and can damage or kill neurons in critical regions of the brain. Especially damaging is the experience of stressors that occur in an unpredictable fashion. In extreme cases, this chronic exposure to trauma causes a state of hyper-arousal or disassociation. Hyper-arousal is characterized by an elevated heart rate, slightly elevated body temperature, and constant anxiety. Disassociation involves an internalized response in which the child shuts down, detaches, or “freezes” as a maladaptive way of managing overwhelming emotions and/or situations. Children are more susceptible to post-traumatic stress because in most situations they are helpless and incapable of either “fight or flight.” A state of learned helplessness can pervade child development as they learn, through the repeated experience of overwhelming stress, to abandon the notion that they can impact the course of their lives in a positive way. When trauma or neglect happens early in life and is left untreated, the injuries sustained reverberate to all ensuing developmental stages.
During adolescence, the brain goes through a critical period of pruning and reorganizing that may be characterized by the phrase “use it or lose it.” Functions that are being used and stimulated regularly are strengthened and “hard-wired” and functions that are not used and stimulated are pruned away. This massive remodeling occurs in the cortex, the highest functioning part of the brain that is needed for good judgment, planning, and other essential functions of adulthood. Asking teens to manage more than one task at a time can overwhelm them, as they are just developing the brain functions needed to prioritize issues, sort through problems, and set goals for the future. Because the cortex is under construction, teens use more primitive parts of the brain (limbic) to manage their emotions, thus they are more likely to react versus think, and to operate from their gut response versus reasoning. They are more likely to misinterpret body language and are generally more vulnerable to stress at this time. They also require more sleep because of the work their brain is doing to facilitate all of this growth and change. While this brain reconstruction is going on, adolescents are also experiencing puberty. They are developing sexually before their brain is mature, and thus are most vulnerable to making poor choices about sex and relationships. Chemical changes in the brain make adolescents more prone to risky behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use. Compounding these risk factors is the normal adolescent need and drive to identify, belong to and fit in with a peer group and to separate from their parents as they transition to adulthood. Thus compounding the risks for adolescent trauma victims/survivors.
Adult trauma is processed much the same biologically, except having passed developmental hurdles, with a mature brain and presumably with so many of the social risks of adolescence settled, an adult can hopefully cope with trauma with a system of supports unavailable to a child. Still trauma is a formidable issue and many meet it initially with denial, anger, and repression. If you have come to the point of addiction, self-harm, suicide, violence, or homicide then THESE have become the primary issues, over-riding your PTSD, and must be addressed before the trauma. Please consult crisis counseling, AA/NA, domestic violence, or emergency counseling asap via 911 resources to deal with these matters pronto. You can attend to the trauma once the serious, harmful issues are under control.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), an official diagnosis since 1980, (but known to the world of psychology as ‘shell shock since world war one) is a psychological condition which may result from experiencing a traumatic event. Symptoms of PTSD can include ‘panic attacks, nightmares, insomnia, flashbacks, hallucinations, hyper vigilance, emotional numbing, avoidance and more’ (Jaffe & Segal, 2005). It is not necessary to remember a traumatic event in full, or even at all, to get help. What is important is to gain control over and reduce disturbing symptoms, improve quality of life and to re-establish a good relationship to the self.
According to the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD “can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like rape” (2006). To this therapist, trauma is not qualified; it is psycho-neuro-chemical-electrical responses within the body, therefore, each person’s trauma is equally deserving of treatment. This is also why Somatic, Bioenergetic, Metaphor, and Narrative approaches are so effective in replenishing and re-patterning the nervous system.
The first steps of basic trauma therapy include gaining control over symptoms and reestablishing a sense of safety. Later steps involve restoring emotional resources, reflexes, impulses, and nervous system balance. If the traumatic event is remembered, there will be further steps to help make sense of what happened and to recognize it is over. Duration of therapy can range from a few sessions to several years depending on many of the factors surrounding the trauma and the strength of the individual. Of course, between client and therapist, such matters are designed.
It is understood that individuals who suffer from PTSD often communicate using metaphors because it’s difficult to talk about the trauma in literal terms, especially without re-triggering the individual. Since communication about the traumatic event facilitates recovery, we can help individuals recover from trauma by facilitating communication with metaphor during relaxation, reiki and transformative therapies, such as art, music, and movement. Speaking in metaphor allows a traumatized individual to talk about what happened without being re-traumatized by the memory of the event. Metaphor helps to create a bridge between the “ordinary” world and the “trauma” world. Such techniques are very helpful in keeping clients feeling safe and functional while undergoing tremendously powerful self-empowerment.
Gail-Elaine Tinker, M.S, has been studying trauma since the 1980s and has gained a breadth of knowledge and experience in the subject. She has facilitated the recoveries of individuals who were feeling victimized to regaining their strength and sense of accomplishment. Her work in the Lehigh Valley, PA has helped many individuals who have been ignored, misdiagnosed, or otherwise marginalized. With proper treatment, her clients have gone on to resume their goals of graduate school, corporate advancement, family re-integration, and other self-determined happy outcomes. If you need support for trauma or PTSD, please contact Gail-Elaine and set up an appointment to begin a new phase of your life. It will involve time, some money, hard work but you can have the life you have wanted deep in your heart.
Gail-Elaine Tinker, M.S, RM is a Psychotherapist/Life Coach in private practice in the Lehigh Valley, PA. At this point she is a self-pay professional with reasonable rates and flexible hours. She well understands the intense roller coaster which is trauma and can support you and your family (to a point) through this complex issue. Feel free to explore her website www.tinkerpsychotherapy.com and contact her directly at 610-216-4319 to schedule a face-to face appointment to see if this option can make your life what you want it to be …and put your trauma in the back seat, where it should be.
