Everyone experiences trauma at some point in their life, but some traumas impact their life in larger ways than others. Sometimes when you go through a trauma that deeply affects you, your body starts exhibiting traumatic stress symptoms that make you feel like you are having an out-of-body experience. You may feel like you can’t function like you’re used to, you’re triggered by the smallest things, and you’re having emotions that you can’t control. If you ever feel this way, doing trauma counseling and therapy is a way to help you unpack what is going on and help you overcome challenges. Here are five benefits of trauma therapy:

1. Validation Of Past Trauma

When people go through traumatic events, such as sexual abuse or seeing a loved one die, it can be hard for other people to understand what they’ve gone through. A therapist who specializes in trauma treatment can acknowledge and validate experienced trauma without an agenda. During a talk therapy session, the main focus is all about you and your personal experience.

This is a unique relationship that no one else can offer, as every friend, family member, or person you encounter outside of the counseling room is someone you have a personal relationship with. Your trauma treatment therapist cares for your connection, as they aren’t seeking your attention. Two foundations of trauma counseling and the healing process are being heard and acknowledged. 

2. Develop Better Coping Mechanisms

Trauma has an impact on the way you interact with the world. Many people will find that they are overwhelmed when they are triggered by a traumatic event or memory. Your therapist can help you establish new coping methods so you can function better in everyday life. Healthy coping mechanisms can range from dealing with practical trauma-related problems, like a fear of spiders or large crowds, to learning to navigate anger management issues, relationship problems, or overall life improvement.

3. Understand Your Trauma

When you feel alone and helpless, trauma symptoms can be at their peak. You may notice that you are responding to people you love with despair, anger, or fear, and you have no idea why. One of the biggest life-changing parts of trauma counseling and therapy is diving into your trauma history. For many people, going through a traumatic experience as an adult uncovers trauma from their past.

If you experienced trauma as a child, you may have developed survival strategies that aren’t the healthiest. An informed and experienced therapist can help you navigate these memories and start your healing process. The more you understand, the more you can do to reduce the effects of the accumulated stress. Psychotherapy is a very effective treatment for childhood trauma and can help support the healing process of your current trauma in your present-day life. 

4. Overcome Shame and Low Self-Worth

The underlying cause of shame and low self-worth is some type of trauma, generally from your childhood. If you had disapproving teachers or parents, were bullied at school, or were excessively criticized, you have suffered from stress and trauma as a child. These can all lead to physiological wounding for life if not dealt with. One of the main responses to this type of wounding is to take the negativity and turn it inwards, causing you to believe you have low self-worth. All of this is explored thoroughly in trauma treatment therapy with your therapist and can help you discover ways to have a healthier way of viewing yourself. 

5. Rebuild Your Sense of Self

Trauma directly attacks how you view yourself and how you fit into the world. Going through a traumatic experience disrupts your trust in the world and can make it feel unsafe. Trauma therapy helps to rebuild your sense of who you are so you can become more resilient to stress and trauma. Trauma therapy can change your life as it helps you deal with things that may have been bothering you your whole life. 

Change Your Life

If you’ve been considering trauma counseling, we would love to help you on your healing journey. Our therapists at Calm Again Counseling can help you get your life back and truly live like you’re meant to. We enjoy serving our clients in the San Francisco Bay, California area. Call us today to discuss your options!