trauma and psychotherapy

For many people, overwhelming challenges in the past may continue to negatively impact everyday life in the here and now.

The American Psychological Association (APA) defines trauma as follows:

Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea. While these feelings are normal, some people have difficulty moving on with their lives.

source: http://www.apa.org/topics/trauma

A condition called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may result from trauma. The APA defines PTSD as follows:

PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, is an anxiety problem that develops in some people after extremely traumatic events, such as combat, crime, an accident or natural disaster.

People with PTSD may relive the event via intrusive memories, flashbacks and nightmares; avoid anything that reminds them of the trauma; and have anxious feelings they didn’t have before that are so intense their lives are disrupted.

source: http://www.apa.org/topics/ptsd

Whether or not your experience rises to the level described in these definitions, if you feel that your experience of overwhelming challenges in the past may be negatively impacting your everyday life in the here and now, it can be helpful to look into what's going and what might be done to improve your situation. If you'd like to explore this with us, let us know and we can schedule an initial conversation. We look forward to discussing this important work with you.