Emotional healing is a complex process. There are many paths to healing from trauma, giving people an opportunity to find a path that works for them, but one constant component of healing seems to be an integral part of this recovery—recovering from trauma is not a solo journey. Another person, usually a trained therapist, acts as a guide into what feels like uncharted territory to the client. No journey is the same, but the therapist has a map.

 

There are steps, pitfalls and setbacks to this journey. Healing to any degree requires a partner that is trusted to support and guide the traumatized person, because the experience of being traumatized is profound. It can destroy the ability to trust others and self. Most trauma survivors have been harmed by other humans, (rather than by natural disasters, for example.) These people are wary and skeptical of depending on others. They may forge a lonely and isolated path through life or repeatedly choose partners that harm them.

Prior to being traumatized, most people experienced the world as relatively predictable and safe. When the trauma occurs, that bubble bursts. Trust in others and self; the sense of basic safety, evaporates. This can make a relationship with a therapist potentially threatening and risky. Providing clients with methods of calming their nervous system down during the first weeks of therapy is crucial. Neurofeedback training and support of neurotransmitters reduces the almost omnipresent fight-flight-freeze trauma response.

 

Offering opportunities to learn about trauma is invaluable because knowledge is power. A frequent response to this information may be, “Guess what? I’m not crazy!” The combination of relief from constant fight-flight-freeze and from a self-perception of being “defective” helps clients trust the therapist—then the really tough, but freeing work of therapy begins.

 

Joan-Marie Lartin, Ph.D., RN, is a psychotherapist in Carlisle and Gettysburg who provides clients with access to neurotransmitter testing and amino acid therapy, as well as therapy and neurofeedback training. For more information, call 717-961-0088 or visit JoanMarieLartin.com.