DEALING WITH CHILDHOOD TRAUMA

Trauma, in general, can be defined as a psychological, emotional response to an event or an experience that is greatly disturbing and distressing. When loosely applied, this trauma definition can refer to something upsetting, such as being involved in an accident, having an illness or injury, losing a loved one, or going through a divorce. Everyone processes a traumatic event differently because we all face them through the lens of earlier experiences in our lives. PRC Rehabilitation Center’s aim is to raise awareness on trauma.

A childhood trauma is the experience of an event by a child that is emotionally painful or distressful, which often results in lasting mental and physical effects. Childhood trauma can occur when a child witnesses or experiences overwhelming negative experiences in childhood. Many childhood experiences can overwhelm a child. This can happen in relationships e.g. abuse, neglect, violence. This is called interpersonal trauma. Children can also experience traumatic events. These include accidents, natural disasters, war and civil unrest, medical procedures or the sudden loss of a parent/caregiver.

Here are a few ways to heal from childhood traumas:

1. Acknowledge: Accept and acknowledge from your heart and mind about the trauma. This will allow you to get on track for healing.
2. Psychotherapy: Talking out helps externalize your suffering which gives a better chance to grasp and overcome it.
3. Identify your Triggers: observe and find out what triggers your trauma, this would further let you work on dealing with it in a better way.
4. Grief: Give yourself time to grieve experiencing the death of a loved one is traumatic no matter if they were unkind. Grief time will allow you to let go of the hard and disturbed emotions. This may even allow you to forgive.
5. Alternative Treatments: Along with Psychotherapy there are a few more options like EMDR, DBT or Somatic Experiencing which might help. These treatments work by muting the neurologically embarked traumas in the brain.
6. Break the Cycle: Responding to your triggers every time reinforces the response, not responding to the trigger will break the cycle which will weaken the reinforcements & eventually fade away.
7. Spirituality: Expressing of faith is found valuable in determination of their self-worth; also letting go of post grievances.
8. Medication: With Trauma comes other Psychiatric disorders like Depression, Anxiety or Phobias- in such cases medicines are needed to stop trigger responses.
9. Let go if you can: Letting go is a powerful technique, allow yourself to let go if not then at least accept what has happened. Life is not fair, but holding to the grudges will cause hurt and increases pain.

We at PRC Rehabilitation Center, believe in helping our clients identify their traumas and heal from them. Most people tend to experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives. Therapy is a first-line treatment for trauma and it helps those with persistent trauma symptoms to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. For assessment and therapy, you may visit PRC Rehabilitation Center Clifton or contact us at 0341-1959599.