TRAUMA AND POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

The causes of trauma and PTSD can be many. Typical causes are accidents, violent attack, robbery, rape, fires etc.  This type of cause is often a single severe incident that causes psychological and sometimes physical damage.

However the causes of trauma can also be long lasting, such as childhood or family abuse, violence and bullying, involvement in wars or terrorist activities.

In addition the symptoms of trauma can be caused by less extreme or less shocking event's. A child being involved in the divorce of a parent, or witnessing violence in the home; punishment or shame experienced at school or at the hands or friends and colleagues. In fact anything that puts our lives under stress and makes us feel ashamed, frightened or worthless can result in the symptoms of trauma to a lesser or greater degree.

The symptoms are many and varied. Typical is depression, anxiety and panic attacks. It can lead to agoraphobia and social phobia and to many psychological disorders.

Behind all this, the person suffering from PTSD or  trauma often experiences distressing memories; sometimes flashbacks or disorientating memories, other times just dwelling on or replaying distressing memories and scenes.

Therapy can help to overcome these extremely troublesome events. One of the most effective techniques for dealing with traumatic memories is EMIT (Eye Movement Integration Therapy) which can rapidly help to integrate the memories to quickly overcome the symptoms. EMIT is usually carried on the basis of an initial therapy session to assess the suitability of the treatment, followed by two or three longer sessions (depending on severity) to work through the EMIT process. These sessions are typically 2 hours long. The result is often a rapid freeing from all or most symptoms. EMIT is often effective even in areas where other therapies have failed.