Overcoming trauma can be a difficult process, especially if the memory has impacted you intensely. This type of experience can have long-term effects on your daily performance, mental health, and ability to socialize with different peers.
Though as distressing as that memory may be, you can gradually restore your peace of mind if you learn to open up and let yourself heal by accepting different forms of treatment or therapy. Although the process may take months — or even years — for you to fully recover, let it be known that you are never alone and help is one phone call away.
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9 Best Types of Trauma Therapy
Recovery can be a long journey but that doesn’t mean you will never achieve your end goal. Here are 9 types of therapy that can help you heal from your trauma:
1. Cognitive-behavioural therapy
CBT therapists tend to explore the unhealthy patterns of your thoughts, feelings, and behavioural practices. They will study these thought patterns of yours and gradually debunk their origins while researching how they can be potentially self-destructive for your personal well-being.
With the help of your doctor, both of you will work together and develop positive solutions in combating your inner thoughts that may feed into your self-doubts and insecurities, which will worsen your trauma.
2. Dialectical behaviour therapy
This procedure involves teaching the patient new skills and hobbies as a form of coping mechanism to regulate their weighted emotions.
As you consistently attend these sessions, you will learn to be more mindful of your emotions and be able to better control your inner demons that continue to plague your mind.
3. Psychodynamic therapy
For this type of trauma therapy, the patient will learn to build a speaking dynamic with their therapist and learn to slowly open up about their past negative experiences. It can be done in a back and forth motion between the therapist and the patient, wherein the therapist asks questions about the heaviness they feel internally.
Once you’ve shared these experiences, the therapist can make a meticulous report on their observations of your previous sessions. And, in turn, can help you in overcoming these issues and teach you healthier ways to resolve them.
This can even be applied to couples that are struggling in relationships. Relationship counselling clinics in Windsor will involve a counsellor asking questions and discussing with the couple issues in the relationship. With this, both you and your partner can develop a healthy dynamic with the counsellor, thus strengthening your bonds.
4. Exposure therapy
In exposure therapy, patients are exposed to varying factors that may trigger their past trauma, exactly where the name is derived from. Most patients may find this disturbing and off-putting at first; however through time, they will learn to control their triggers as long as they are with a trusted professional with whom they can safely confide.
5. Interpersonal therapy
IP therapy focuses on how the patient interacts during weekly sessions. Deriving from these results, the therapist will do thorough research on what the underlying issue may be for the individual and hopefully improve their interpersonal interactions.
6. Mentalization-based therapy
This is a type of long-term psychotherapy wherein the therapist aims to study your cognitive behaviour, mental dynamics, and ecological approaches. This is mostly catered towards neurodivergent patients struggling with self-harm issues and symptoms of aggressive behaviour.
This is usually targeted toward individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), depression, eating disorders, drug addiction, and also patients dealing with trauma.
7. Emotion-focused therapy
Emotion-focused therapy, just as the name suggests, focuses more on your emotions and encourages you to avoid suppressing these negative emotions, lest you become too overwhelmed with them and possibly implode from all the emotional stress.
This type of therapy especially caters to individuals struggling with social anxiety and interpersonal issues, since they are more closed off with their emotions and tend to avoid any form of social interaction.
Another aim of this therapy is to become more mindful of your internal feelings and avoid stunting these problems, since you may express your frustrations through tangible means such as self-harm or drug abuse, which could also result in an unhealthy loss of weight.
8. Animal-assisted therapy
Ever heard of the phrase that dogs are a man’s best friend? Well, this certainly applies in this situation. A few hospitals and nursing homes use different fluffy creatures as a means of coping mechanism for struggling patients. Therapy dogs especially have to be one of the most popular support systems in animal-assisted therapy.
9. Creative arts therapy
Art therapy can be a healthy outlet for better expressing your suppressed emotions through a creative process. These mediums include painting, dancing, singing, and even poetry, depending on the preference of the individual. Sometimes, when you’re drowning in all of your weighted thoughts and negative emotions, it feels easier to succumb to this mindset rather than pull yourself out of it. Never forget that help is always available. You can seek help from different therapy clinics online or by visiting them personally. Trauma therapy in Toronto is available for those who need it. Remember that you are loved and you are valued, and so let this article be a reminder to go find immediate help when you’ll need it.