What Is Trauma Therapy?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTypes of Trauma TherapyTechniquesWhat Trauma Therapy Can Help WithBenefits of Trauma TherapyEffectivenessThings to ConsiderHow to Get Started

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Types of Trauma Therapy

Techniques

What Trauma Therapy Can Help With

Benefits of Trauma Therapy

Effectiveness

Things to Consider

How to Get Started

Information presented in this article may be triggering to some people. If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

“Over 50% of people experience at least one trauma in their lives,” saysKelly Workman, PsyD, a psychologist at Columbia University Medical Center who specializes in treating trauma.“Traumacan include a wide range of situations, ranging from serious injury, sexual violence, and life-threatening events to chronic abuse and neglect, being bullied, and homelessness.”

Kelly Workman, PsyDWhile not all trauma survivors experience long-term negative consequences, we know that the experience of trauma can profoundly affect someone’s psychological, social, physical, occupational, and financial functioning.

Kelly Workman, PsyD

While not all trauma survivors experience long-term negative consequences, we know that the experience of trauma can profoundly affect someone’s psychological, social, physical, occupational, and financial functioning.

This form oftherapycan help you if you are unable to cope with the trauma you experienced, or if it’s affecting your ability to function day-to-day.

Press Play for Advice On Healing From TraumaThis episode ofThe Verywell Mind Podcast, featuring Kati Morton, LMFT, shares how to heal from trauma. Click below to listen now.

Press Play for Advice On Healing From Trauma

This episode ofThe Verywell Mind Podcast, featuring Kati Morton, LMFT, shares how to heal from trauma. Click below to listen now.

The Best Online Trauma Therapy, Tried and Tested

There are multiple types of therapy that can help treat trauma. Workman lists some of the forms of therapy a mental health practitioner may use to help you overcome trauma-related issues and treatpost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD):

PE and CPT are the front-line treatments for trauma as they have the most research evidence demonstrating their effectiveness, according to Workman.

“Both treatments can be completed in three to four months, which is relatively brief compared to the length of time some people endure immense suffering due to experiencing trauma,” says Workman. She notes that both treatments work well in-person as well as online.

According to Workman, an advantage of CPT is that it can be conducted with or without a description of the actual trauma, which can be helpful if you don’t remember the trauma or don’t want to talk about it.

Moreover, Workman says TF-CBT and EMDR can also helpreduce PTSD symptoms, which can lead to improvements in overall functioning and quality of life.

The techniques used to treat trauma can vary depending on the type of therapy. Workman outlines some techniques your therapist might employ.

Grounding Techniques for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

These are some common forms of trauma that therapy can address; however, it’s important to note that trauma can include any event or experience that causes emotional or psychological harm.

“People from minoritized backgrounds such asBIPOCmay also experience historical trauma, from events such as slavery and colonization, as well asintergenerational trauma, which is when the effects of trauma are passed down from one generation to the next,” says Workman.

The Body Keeps the Score With Dr. Bessel van der Kolk

Trauma therapy can help you address the traumatic event and process your feelings and emotions surrounding it and stemming from it.It can give you the opportunity toface your fearsin a safe space and learn coping skills that can help you function on a day-to-day basis.

Reduce Fear and Avoidance

Trauma can instillfearand cause you to avoid people, places, or things that remind you of the traumatic experience, which can make it difficult for you to function. For instance, a person who was involved in a car accident on a freeway may avoid driving on freeways or be afraid to get into a car at all, says Workman.

Workman says therapy can help you confront the trauma memory and overcome your fears.

Improve Coping Skills

Build Trust

Traumatic events can disrupt your sense of safety and make it difficult for you to trust others.

With therapy, someone who developed the belief “It’s not safe to trust anyone” may learn to start thinking “Even though I was hurt in the past, most people are good and trustworthy and it’s okay to give people a chance,” says Workman.

Challenge Problematic Beliefs

Therapy can help challenge problematic thought patterns you may have developed about yourself and the world around you, to help you make sense of why the traumatic event occurred, says Workman.

For instance, Workman says someone who started to believe “I must be a bad person because bad things shouldn’t happen to good people” may instead learn to think “Sometimes bad things happen to good people who did nothing to cause it. I am still a good person even if something bad happened to me.”

Therapy can help disconfirm problematic beliefs, help you develop a new perspective about the traumatic experience, and reduce the intensity of trauma-related emotions such as shame and guilt, says Workman.

Offer Validation

People who have experienced trauma and have repeatedly been told that their experiences, characteristics, or emotional reactions are unreasonable and unacceptable may suffer further and develop chronic difficulties, says Workman. She says an example would be being blamed or verbally abused after disclosing a trauma.

Therapy can helpvalidateyour experiences and offer the understanding and acceptance you need to start healing.

According to a 2018 study, there is a substantial amount of evidence that trauma-focused therapies like PE, CPT, and CBT that address memories, thoughts, and feelings related to a traumatic event are effectively able to treat PTSD.

A 2017 study found that veterans who participated in trauma management therapy saw a significant reduction inPTSD symptomslike anger, guilt, depression, difficulty sleeping, and social isolation. These benefits were sustained even six months after the treatment was completed.

According to Workman, a trauma therapist may consider several factors when assessing your readiness for trauma therapy, which can include:

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

What Does It Mean to Be ‘Triggered’

If you have experienced some form of trauma and want to seek treatment for it, look for a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist who specializes in this form of therapy.

If you are already seeing a mental healthcare provider for your symptoms, they may be able to refer you to a specialist. If you are a veteran, there are local and national organizations that offer therapy and resources for trauma and PTSD.

For BIPOC andLGBTQ+folks, Workman says it is important to work with a therapist who is well-versed on the effects of discrimination, oppression, and inequality and can demonstrate competence in discussingracism,racial trauma, cultural issues, and historical and intergenerational trauma.

The Most Inclusive Online Therapy Platforms We Tried and Tested

When you reach out to a practitioner who specializes in trauma treatment, in addition to asking for details of your medication, medical history, andinsurance plan, they may also assess you to determine whether trauma therapy is appropriate for you at the moment and which form of treatment would work best.

You can work with your mental healthcare provider to decide the goals of therapy and work out a treatment plan accordingly.

A Word From Verywell

It is normal to experience emotions like shock anddenialif you have experienced or witnessed something terrible. You may also have headaches, nausea, flashbacks, and unpredictable emotions.

However, if you are unable to cope with the symptoms you’re experiencing, or if they are interfering with your ability to function on a day-to-day basis, trauma therapy can help.

Trauma therapy can help you process the trauma, face your fears, and equip you with coping skills so that you are able to live a meaningful life in spite of your trauma.

4 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Center for PTSD.How common is PTSD in adults?Watkins LE, Sprang KR, Rothbaum BO.Treating PTSD: a review of evidence-based psychotherapy interventions.Front Behav Neurosci. 2018;12:258. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00258Beidel DC, Frueh BC, Neer SM, Lejuez CW.The efficacy of Trauma Management Therapy: a controlled pilot investigation of a three-week intensive outpatient program for combat-related PTSD.J Anxiety Disord. 2017;50:23-32. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.05.001American Pscyhological Association.Trauma.

4 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Center for PTSD.How common is PTSD in adults?Watkins LE, Sprang KR, Rothbaum BO.Treating PTSD: a review of evidence-based psychotherapy interventions.Front Behav Neurosci. 2018;12:258. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00258Beidel DC, Frueh BC, Neer SM, Lejuez CW.The efficacy of Trauma Management Therapy: a controlled pilot investigation of a three-week intensive outpatient program for combat-related PTSD.J Anxiety Disord. 2017;50:23-32. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.05.001American Pscyhological Association.Trauma.

National Center for PTSD.How common is PTSD in adults?Watkins LE, Sprang KR, Rothbaum BO.Treating PTSD: a review of evidence-based psychotherapy interventions.Front Behav Neurosci. 2018;12:258. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00258Beidel DC, Frueh BC, Neer SM, Lejuez CW.The efficacy of Trauma Management Therapy: a controlled pilot investigation of a three-week intensive outpatient program for combat-related PTSD.J Anxiety Disord. 2017;50:23-32. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.05.001American Pscyhological Association.Trauma.

National Center for PTSD.How common is PTSD in adults?

Watkins LE, Sprang KR, Rothbaum BO.Treating PTSD: a review of evidence-based psychotherapy interventions.Front Behav Neurosci. 2018;12:258. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00258

Beidel DC, Frueh BC, Neer SM, Lejuez CW.The efficacy of Trauma Management Therapy: a controlled pilot investigation of a three-week intensive outpatient program for combat-related PTSD.J Anxiety Disord. 2017;50:23-32. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.05.001

American Pscyhological Association.Trauma.

Hannah Owens, LMSW

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Kelly Workman, PsyD#

Press Play for Advice On Healing From Trauma#

Reduce Fear and Avoidance#

Improve Coping Skills#

Build Trust#

Challenge Problematic Beliefs#

Offer Validation#

A Word From Verywell#