By Jill Forbes, LCSW, QCSW

Most people know when they have been exposed to a traumatic event. Traumatic events are events that make a person fearful in that they, or someone or something meaningful to them, has been lost or harmed in a life-changing manner.  When the event or events impact the individual in a manner that impairs functioning, they often meet criteria for a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The degree of impact that the trauma has on the individual varies in very significant ways. For example; a person who has studied for a profession and then not obtained a desired position, may feel traumatized at the point of denial for the position. Another example of lower level trauma can be rejection from a pursued desire of affection. These types of traumas can impact an individual in negative ways. In the long run these concerns are usually worked out and the individual can move forward in their life.

More profound events such as witnessing a murder, being raped or otherwise abused, domestic violence, and engaging in the devastation of war can create a higher more enduring level of distress. These types of traumas are often preserved within the individual’s memory recall and significantly derail an individual’s ability to function in daily life.

Trauma can be debilitating

The individual often has continuous replay of a movie/flashcards/images that is constantly being triggered, felt, and relived over and over. This recall can be intense and debilitating.

Individuals who experience significant trauma often suffer from repetitive nightmares. This disrupts sleep and can create a plethora of difficulties that significantly impact an individual’s ability to function in daily life.

Flashbacks are also a common symptom of trauma. In this case an internal or external event will trigger the individual and place them back into the traumatic event in their mind. This experience feels as if they are reliving the moment and effects individuals negatively; both emotionally and behaviorally.

Intrusive recollections are another symptom experienced due to exposure to trauma. In this instance, individual’s find thoughts of the trauma popping up into their conscious stream of thought, even when they are not wanting to think about the event.

Further evidence of traumatic disruption is seen in the form of avoidance behaviors. Avoiding people, places, and things that are associated with the traumatic event can be disruptive to engaging in and meeting the demands of daily life.

Trauma is not only disruptive to tasks and demands of daily life but it is also responsible for emotional disruption. Individuals exposed to trauma have had their views of life and safety in this world shaken. Anxiety, Depression, Panic Disorder and hypervigilance are also frequently experienced due to the traumatic event or the reactivity. In addition, many individuals will isolate socially creating feelings of loneliness or not having a sense of belonging.

Ways to overcome trauma

There are several common methods currently utilized to address traumatic reactivity and also for addressing the emotional thoughts or feelings about the traumatic event or events. Some popular techniques that address traumatic reactivity are Dialectical Behavioral Therapies, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and even hypnotherapy. Most recently a new alternative has also emerged; Advanced Trauma Processing – The 3 Step Method. All of the methods cited have merit.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills such as mindfulness promote grounding an individual to the present moment and can assist with the regulation of emotion. This can be a wonderful tool for assisting an individual in regaining control of emotion, due to trauma, after being triggered and becoming reactive due to an environmental or internal stimuli. Unfortunately, this technique does not eliminate the initial reactivity.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing reprocesses a traumatic memory with direction from an expert who selects areas of focus and reprocessing of the trauma. This has proven to be a successful technique. However, knowing what should be focused on during the reprocessing may be tricky as an individual’s experience and personal meaning of an event may not be completely revealed or understood.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can also be utilized to decrease response to trauma. This narrative therapy involves making environmental and emotional connections with the triggers for the traumatic experience. The reactivity to the event is the brought to awareness and reviewed repetitively to promote desensitization. This process can be lengthy and is often painful for the individual.

Hypnotherapy is another method individual’s can utilize to create behavioral changes. This method uses sub-conscious or unconscious suggestion. It creates thoughts in the mind that are so realistic that the body reacts biochemically. However, the individual is dependent on the provider to create the behavioral change dialogue.

Advanced Trauma Processing: The 3 Step Method is a new alternative for addressing the reactivity of trauma. This method consists of three steps; preparation, processing, and follow up. This method provides immediate and permanent relief from nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive recollections, and significantly reduces avoidance behaviors in only 20 minutes without the need to even verbalize what the trauma was.

This new technique combines Dialectical Behavioral Therapy mindfulness skills, with the bilateral stimulation techniques of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a meditative state which allows processing to occur at the sub-conscious and unconscious levels of thought similar to pre-hypnotic states, and rewriting of internal narratives such as what is done with Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapies.

Jill Forbes, author of Advanced Trauma Processing: The 3 Step Method, is a practicing therapist in Hemet, Calif. She is  supervisor of a county behavioral health clinic. Since the early 1980s, she has worked in psychiatric hospitals, behavioral health clinics, provided field based therapy, provided oversight and services for board and care homes, and worked for child protective services as a sexual abuse therapist, court representative, and reunification worker. She has also worked with veterans. In addition to specializing in work with trauma, Ms. Forbes also specializes in reintegration of Dissociative Identity Disorder.