The Drama of Trauma

I always find it interesting when human beings experience trauma and somehow minimize it’s impact and subsequent effects.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines drama as “a state, situation, or series of events involving interesting or intense conflict of forces.”

Experiencing trauma is one of the most dramatic events our bodies go through. It leaves memories on our brains, our muscles, our nervous systems and of course our thoughts/memories.

When we do not recognize the dramatic impact of our traumas, it can have longer-lasting effects on how we relate to ourselves and to other people. It can even impact our physical health (e.g. strokes, gastrointestinal disease, dependence on drug/alcohol, etc.) I told you it was dramatic. The good news is there are many ways to ameliorate post-traumatic symptoms. One of the most effective ways is through skilled psychotherapy treatments.

Talk therapy is not only talking to a stranger who “just listens”. The truth is many times, the therapeutic conversations becomes a safe space for your drama trauma to finally play out. Just like a dramatic movie that moves your heart, you will find yourself crying, laughing, angered, quiet and the rest of the human emotions. The goal with your therapist is to get you to your second act or the final curtain of the dramatic effects of trauma. The goal is to walk out the theater having been inspired by the resilience of your own story. When mental health therapy is provided by a skilled clinician, the following occurs:

• You discuss your story. What lasting impact good/bad (there is no indifferent here) that your experiences had on you?
• You (alongside your therapist) decide what goals you would like to work on. One could say I want a better relationship with my parents/spouse/children. I want to be less anxious, less depressed, have less family arguments, have more confidence. I want more connection my spouse, etc. Now do you need goals in therapy in order to start or continue therapy? Simple answer is no. Sometimes we just need to know our emotions first have a safe space to be contained before working on any goals. And that is absolutely normal and welcomed in therapy.
• You practice. I use to think of therapy as a spa for the soul, but as I continue my practice, I now like to see it as more of a health club or gym for the soul. At the gym there are a variety of machines and activities to get you to your health goals. Sometimes, we go to the gym just to sit in the sauna for an hour or for a fun group class and other times we may be pushing ourselves past our comfort zone with weight training for the benefit of intense muscle growth. Similarly, a competent therapist will access a variety of tools specific to you and your trauma to get you to your goals. The interventions are many, but here’s a few: EMDR, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, In Vivo Desensitization, Bibliotherapy, Biofeedback, Art or Music Therapy, Narrative Therapy, NLPT, Mindfulness, Family Systems Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Adlerian Therapy, Trauma-Focused Therapy. And really the list goes on. You want to make sure you are compatible with your therapist by expressing your needs and providing them with feedback with the style of therapy being used at any time.
• You check-in. Consider every session with your therapist as a much needed resting stop. Your therapist will check in with you on the focus problem and it’s proximity to your agreed upon goals.

It is pivotal for us to ascribe the drama in our trauma, because only then can we fiercely and unapologetically pursue healing, recovery and wholeness.