Psychological trauma can affect your life for many years after the event or situation that caused it. It isn't a problem that's easily resolved, especially if you try to do it on your own. However, talk therapy has proven valuable in helping people overcome the distress, pain, and dysfunction that come from having lived through the most overwhelmingly threatening experiences.
Trauma therapy is that counselors use to help people overcome psychological trauma. A traumatic event is defined as one in which you perceive a threat to your life, bodily integrity, or sanity. The other component of the definition is your reaction to the event or situation. If you can cope with the event, even if it is a serious threat, it isn't trauma. Trauma happens when your ability to cope is completely overwhelmed.
The most crucial goals of trauma therapy are typically:
1) To face the reality of the past event without getting stuck in it
2) To work towards shifting focus from the past to the present
3) To improve daily functioning
4) To gain skills that prevent relapse
5) To overcome addictions associated with traumatic stress
While traumatic events can happen to anyone, there are risk factors that make some of us more likely to experience psychological trauma following a disturbing event. You’re more likely to be traumatized if you’re already under a heavy stress load, have recently suffered a series of losses, or have been traumatized before—especially if the earlier trauma occurred in childhood.
