Treatment For Trauma | Gloucester, VA & Across Virginia

Something happened. Maybe it was something big like a death or an abusive situation, or maybe it was a move or a divorce. This may be a fresh wound or an old one but either way, now you seem stuck in unhappiness, feel out of control, or are struggling to get through your day.

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You may not be sleeping or struggling to go to school or work. You may have bouts of crying or intense anger fits.

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You want to help yourself, but how? You feel disconnected from the world overwhelmed, or helpless in your ability to heal. Nothing seems to be getting better.

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Trauma therapy can help you and your child in so many ways.

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For adults, it can help you learn your triggers (and begin to work through them!). It will help you to focus throughout your day better, dissociate less, and to be able to communicate your needs better versus shutting down, dissociating, or screaming. You'll have the tools and strategies to heal from what you've been through and to create a life you love.

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For children, trauma therapy helps them to be able to talk to you about their feelings versus holding it all in and exploding. It'll help you to have a calmer child who can calm down when they feel intense fits or emotions, instead of randomly pitching fits and screaming at you. Finally, it can help get you both back to feeling connected in a loving warm relationship.

Trauma seems to be a big buzzword these days, but what is trauma?

Trauma happens after you experience an event that hurt you physically or emotionally. You may notice after that event that you feel different about yourself and your relationships with others. Possibly after the trauma you noticed you started having anxiety, depression, flashbacks or nightmares, and may even feel you have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). You may feel like what happened was all your fault even though everyone has told you that it wasn't.

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We are here to help through these difficult times in ways that have been proven to work with children and adults who have been through trauma, just like you, and managed to heal and become a new, better version of themselves.

You may ask yourself...Okay, but how do I know my event was a trauma? If this event deeply distressed or disturbed you, it can be counted as traumatic.

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If it overwhelmed your ability to cope, made you feel helpless or hopeless, or stopped you from feeling emotions or enjoying experiences, it can be counted as traumatic. 

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The most common types of traumas are:

• Physical abuse 

• Emotional abuse 

• Sexual abuse

• Witnessing or being involved in domestic violence

• Raised by a parent with mental illness

• An incarcerated relative

• Substance abuse

• Divorce

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These are typically events that involve the loss of control, feelings of betrayal, an abuse of power, helplessness, pain, confusion, and/or loss.

No. It doesn't always have to be a big event to be a trauma.

Sometimes little events can cause a traumatic response such as loss of a pet, a non-threatening injury, bullying or harassment, or loss of a significant relationship.

It could also be people who live and work in close proximity to trauma survivors, especially those who encounter emotional shock on a regular basis like paramedics, therapists, and police officers

You wonder, everything seems, fine, what if I don't get help for myself or my child? How do I know now is the right time?

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If you leave trauma untreated, it can affect every area of your or your child's life and then their adult life.

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Trauma will begin to affect your brain and nervous system of your body. You may notice yourself engaging in risky health behaviors such as smoking, eating disorders, substance use, and other high-risk activities.

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By not treating trauma in childhood, it could lead your teen to have more involvement with child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

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 Later on, research shows those high-risk behaviors lead to adult survivors of trauma being more likely to have adult health problems such as diabetes and heart disease or to die at a younger age than their peers. Adult survivors may also struggle with relationships.  or maintaining employment.

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Treating trauma is the right move for you and your child to have the life you deserve.

People respond to trauma in all different ways. It could be a state of shock, extreme anger, grief, or denial. There may be longer-term reactions such as nightmares, flashbacks, refusal to go certain places, regression (bed-wetting, scared to be alone), intense emotional outbursts, increased impulsivity, or difficulty with relationships, depression, anxiety, difficulty with attention and memory, or physical symptoms with aches and pains. 

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Older children may use drugs or alcohol, behave in risky ways, or engage in unhealthy sexual activity.

To get started on your journey to healing, call us at 757-296-8794.