Post-Traumatic Stress & Emotional Stress

Trauma Explained

Trauma is caused in the brain in an instant. A significant emotional event or traumatic experience can leave a client feeling like they are constantly reliving it even though the incident happened in the past long ago.

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Traumatised clients often say they feel “hyper-alert” and “trapped” they are being terrorized by an invisible mental wound, helplessly held hostage to powerful emotional memories and flashbacks of a life-threatening or life changing event, or series of events. 

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It remains a constant threat and the brain remains “locked in” and activates the fight or flight stress response.

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Whichever stimulus the brain associates with the past event, images, sounds, smells, feelings or sensations triggers anxiety and upset. The body is then flooded with a powerful cocktail of stress hormones.

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All signs that their brain is trying but struggling and failing to process the traumatic experience.

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The long term activation of the above cycle causes chronic harmful physical and psychological illnesses such as, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger, depression, psychosis and immune system suppression, ulcers, obesity and can increase hypertension, heart disease, a heat attacks or stroke. 

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Often issues are aggravated or compounded by excessive self-medication through alcohol, drugs or substance abuse in an attempt to escape from the emotional turmoil.

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Treatment is therefore focussed on calming the brain and helping it to process what happened and reframing it. This is done in a compassionate safe, fast, non-voyeuristic way. 

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Clients do not need to revisit the specifics of the traumatic memory so no further distress or harm can come to the client, nor is there the risk of client suffering re-traumatisation as with certain talk therapy methods where poorly trained therapists re-activate the emotion and further embed the trauma in the amygdala.

The most complex and severe cases where multiple traumatic incidents are embedded may occasionally need a second or third session.

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The client then regains control over their life, their peace of mind, their ambitions and can go on to find happiness and life fulfilling purpose.

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So, if You or someone you love or care about is suffering from any form of disturbing past trauma please get in touch for a confidential chat.