Getting trauma counselling explained in a way that makes sense isn’t always easy. This is because in can be very scary to consider the prospect of change. Additionally, trauma counsellors are hoping that you will work with them to get through your trauma and to give you enough information to understand yourself and the process along the way. However, it is important to fully understand what will be involved and the results that you should be able to expect from it before you begin. Here you will find the information that you have been looking for so that you can feel informed to take the next step towards getting the help that you need.
What is most important about having trauma counselling explained is that it enables you to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As you have imagined it can be very difficult to go through the process, but knowing that the time and emotions that you put in it will result in a large number of benefits helps to encourage you to give it your all. If you participate fully and follow the advice that you are given, you will almost certainly find that you will become a different person in many positive respects.
One of the main benefits is that you will learn to stop living in that moment, or time in your life. Most people who have experienced a severe trauma have a hard time separating themselves from that point in their life, which is only a natural response. Therapy can give you the tools you need to stop being a victim day in and day out and to learn how to take control of your thoughts when it comes to the things that you have experienced. Essentially, it is about realizing that you are not what happened to you, but are instead whoever you chose to be each day of your life.
It can also help you to live a more fulfilled life. Being that you have experienced trauma in your life, it’s possible that you have trust issues, even with those that you are closest with. Having those issues can make having secure and healthy personal relationships extremely difficult. Worrying that someone is going to hurt you in any way takes away from the relationship that you can have with them. It can even hinder relationships that you have with people in your workplace of school. Working past this will lead to you seeing others in a completely different and more positive light.
It can also give you a strong support system of people that understand what you are feeling and help you to work through those moments so that they no longer impact you for days or weeks. Counsellors will provide you with strategies for managing your distress; That way if you experience something that is leaving you with feelings of extreme anxiety, fear or other emotion, you can Implement those tools to help you to manage those feelings and get on with you life.
One of the most common forms of this type of therapy is Cognitive Behavoural Therapy. Your counselor will ask you questions and ask you to talk about the event or things that trigger emotions in you so that you can eventually get to a point where that event or trigger no longer has control over you. This, of course, can be extremely difficult, especially at first. It is common to not want to talk about these things as they are likely to lead to an emotional response, but that is the point of doing so. The more that you talk through it the quicker it is that you will realize that what happened was not your fault and is not what daily life is usually like. That whoever hurt you was the one at fault, and that those type of people are rather rare.
You counselor will also want to to talk about how the trauma has impacted your life. This is more than just what happened, but what you have done in your life since then in response to it. For example, people who have experienced sexual assault may have difficulties having a sex life. They may feel that they do not enjoy it or even that they fear being intimate with a partner. Clearly this is a major impact to someone’s lifestyle and has lasting implications.
Those that suffered from emotional or physical abuse in childhood or in a past relationship may find it extremely difficult to trust anyone. This is a very common response, but by talking about how the trauma has continued to affect your life can help you to see that it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. It can help you to decide that you are going to trust people and not let what happened be a determinant on how you live your life, which can be extremely empowering.
Having trauma counselling explained has hopefully helped to see that it is well worth the pain that you may deal with during the process. There is a way to live your life without the constant fear and mistrust. Just take some time to think of the person you might be if you going through this process and really work through the pain to thrive in life again.