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Is writing about trauma therapeutic?
Writing about thoughts and feelings that arise from a traumatic or stressful life experience — called expressive writing — may help some people cope with the emotional fallout of such events. The Therapeutic Writing Protocol Therapeutic journaling can be done by keeping a regular journal to write about events that bring up anger, grief, anxiety, or joy that occur in daily life. It can also be used more therapeutically to deal with specific upsetting, stressful, or traumatic life events. A trauma timeline begins as a pen and paper assignment of constructing a detailed history of one’s painful life experiences that left them feeling abandoned, unsafe, confused, fearful, sad, angry, shameful, guilt-ridden or stuck. When you’re writing flashbacks, think about the absolute worst thing that’s ever happened to you, really let it well up and overwhelm you (stay safe), and recapture how that felt. How did your body respond? Now, imagine those feelings amplified by a life or death consequence to that event. We often will feel sad and cry after a highly traumatic event. The crying can be a way for the nervous system to come down from the fight-or-flight response, since crying is associated with the parasympathetic nervous system which calms the mind and body. Ever since people’s responses to overwhelming experiences have been systematically explored, researchers have noted that a trauma is stored in somatic memory and expressed as changes in the biological stress response.
What are the goals of trauma therapy?
The purpose of trauma-focused therapy is to offer skills and strategies to assist your child in better understanding, coping with, processing emotions and memories tied to traumatic experiences, with the end goal of enabling your child to create a healthier and more adaptive meaning of the experience that took place in … Trauma Informed Practice is a strengths-based framework which is founded on five core principles – safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration and empowerment as well as respect for diversity. The key in trauma-informed care is to approach each of your clients as if they have experienced trauma. The language that you use with your clients is important. Trauma-informed language includes using words that don’t trigger your clients. In fact, the word “trigger” can be triggering, for lack of a better word. EMDR therapy changes the way a traumatic memory is stored in your brain using eye movements or rhythmic tapping. This allows you to process the trauma so that you can remember the event without reliving it. The three R’s – Reaching the traumatised brain. Dr Bruce Perry a pioneering neuroscientist in the field of trauma has shown us to help a vulnerable child to learn, think and reflect, we need to intervene in a simple sequence. These 4 Cs are: Calm, Contain, Care, and Cope 2 Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care Page 10 34 (Table 2.3). These 4Cs emphasize key concepts in trauma-informed care and can serve as touchstones to guide immediate and sustained behavior change.
How do you write realistic trauma?
Therapists also recommend writing trauma stories in the present tense. The view allows the events to occur in the present moment of your mind rather than keeping them in the past, where many people store negative thoughts to avoid dealing with them. Present tense provides vivid and emotional descriptions. Trauma Informed Practice is a strengths-based framework which is founded on five core principles – safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration and empowerment as well as respect for diversity. A traumatized person can feel a range of emotions both immediately after the event and in the long term. They may feel overwhelmed, helpless, shocked, or have difficulty processing their experiences. Trauma can also cause physical symptoms. Trauma can have long-term effects on the person’s well-being. The trauma-informed approach is guided four assumptions, known as the “Four R’s”: Realization about trauma and how it can affect people and groups, recognizing the signs of trauma, having a system which can respond to trauma, and resisting re-traumatization.
Should I write about my childhood trauma?
Research suggests writing about trauma can be beneficial because it helps people re-evaluate their experiences by looking at them from different perspectives. Studies suggest writing about traumatic events can help ease the emotional pressure of negative experiences. Traumatic events are personal and some people develop PTSD from situations that, to the eyes of society and others, are “nothing”. Yet, the wounding is real. For this reason, trauma and PTSD is difficult to treat. We have extensive knowledge of what causes trauma, but it is, ultimately, a very personal journey to take. Best Practices for Trauma-Informed Communication Be respectful of others’ life experiences. Recognize that someone’s mental health issues, substance abuse or physical health concerns may be rooted in “what has happened to them” and not because “something is wrong with them.” Build healthy relationships. Ever since people’s responses to overwhelming experiences have been systematically explored, researchers have noted that a trauma is stored in somatic memory and expressed as changes in the biological stress response. Smiling when discussing trauma is a way to minimize the traumatic experience. It communicates the notion that what happened “wasn’t so bad.” This is a common strategy that trauma survivors use in an attempt to maintain a connection to caretakers who were their perpetrators.