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The following collection of articles are divided into shock trauma, developmental trauma, anxiety, dissociation and treatment of trauma.
Be A Smart Consumer: Understand Shock vs Developmental Trauma
You see it everywhere. Military veterans return home with it. Families break apart and relationships become violent. School teaches see its consequences daily in their classrooms.
Perhaps, you, too, have experienced an overwhelming or traumatic event and now you want some counseling help. Being informed about shock and developmental trauma is one way to become a smart consumer.
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ARTICLES ABOUT SHOCK TRAUMA
How to Know Trauma When You See It
The woman loved to window shop, but something wasn’t right. The green coat on the manikin had caught her attention. Without understanding why, she suddenly gasped for breath, felt light-headed and her heart pounded wildly. At home, she couldn’t focus on cooking a simple meal.
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Preparing for Surgery? 4 Ways to Reduce Its Traumatic Impact: Part One
Whether you are preparing for surgery hours or days away, there are steps you can take to minimize its traumatic impact. By minimizing your nervous system’s threat response, you may reduce: the time you spend in the hospital, the amount of pain you experience, the amount of medication you require, and the cost of hospitalization.Read More… .
Preparing for Surgery? 4 Ways to Reduce Its Traumatic Impact: Part Two
This is part two of a two-part article. In part one, I examined how surgical procedures can be potentially traumatizing and what symptoms could result from trauma. In this article, I outline four steps you can take to minimize the likelihood that the surgery will lead to trauma.
Under going surgery is a big deal, whether the procedure is planned or performed in an emergency. From your body’s perspective, being cut open and given an anesthetic is an invasive procedure and may be overwhelming or traumatizing to your nervous system.
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Why Do You Keep Having the Same Car Accident?
Tom (not his real name) could not believe what had just happened! For the fourth time in two years, he had been hit again; each time the car had been on his left side. The first time, he was hit when he attempted to merge into traffic from an on-ramp; others happened in an intersection, in a parking lot. Today he ran into a car when he moved into a passing lane. .
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It’s Not Surprising That You Are Still Not Done With the Accident
Richard, not his real name, was anxious to photograph the deer that he had been tracking all morning. The boulder nearby looked like the perfect place where he could scan the field. That thought was the last he remembered. With one misstep, he felt himself tumbling over the rock and dropping eight feet onto the ground. For a few minutes he was too shocked to realize what had happened; then the excruciating pain in his shoulder caused him to scream.
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Are You Still Angry After the Doctor Saved Your Life? Of Course You Are!
The searing pain in her belly made Beth (not her real name) cry out and grab her stomach. Fortunately, her sister, who lived nearby, was home from work and could take her to the local hospital tucked away in the little mountain town. Seven hours later, Beth was rushed from the emergency room into surgery after the doctor discovered that her appendix had ruptured an hour earlier.
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I Wasn’t the Patient in the Emergency Room, So Why Do I Feel Traumatized?
The itching from the poison ivy was driving Elizabeth (not her real name) crazy. After a week of trying to control the spread of the oozing rash, she decided to ask her sister Susan (not her real name), whom she was visiting, to take her to the emergency room. Elizabeth was far from home and did not see any other option. Susan knew the emergency room (ER) was an easy trip from her house. In a couple hours she could be in and out and none the worse for the trip. Or so she thought.
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3 Steps to Take When You Are Embraced by Grief
Marla (not her real name) was sobbing, again. After holding in her feelings for two days, she could not contain her sadness any longer. Within the last two years she has attended three funerals. First to die was her mother. Marla had been her main caretaker for over a month before she died from cancer. It seemed as though she had no time to grieve before her close friend died suddenly several months later. Her grandfather’s funeral six months ago was the most recent. While she was not the primary caretaker of her grandfather, she visited him daily. The loss of three people close to her left her wondering who she was. So much had changed so quickly.
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ARTICLES ABOUT DEVELOPMENTAL TRAUMA
Why Do You Go Emotionally Numb When Others Talk To You?
Ann, not her real name, knew she had done it again. One minute she was arguing with her partner and the next she felt emotionally numb. This infuriated then depressed her partner. Nothing she did seemed to help Ann snap out of it and neither she nor Ann understood why she had such a strong reaction.
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Is Your Traumatic Childhood Making Relationships Difficult?
Mark (not his real name) thought he should have settled down by now. Almost 20 years ago he had fled his abusive family determined to make a fresh start. His dream to be happily married was just that. His first marriage seemed like a repeat of his parents’ marriage; he verbally attacked his wife almost daily and once she had to go to the hospital when he beat her.
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How Do You Tell A Partner About Past Sexual Abuse?
Judy walked out of her therapist’s office slowly. What she had just learned made her feel sick. Before she went to girlfriend’s house, she drove around town for half an hour to let the shock wear off. By the time she arrived at Ann’s house, the discovery that her father had committed incest with her had slid to the back of her mind, at least for now.
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Have You Been Affected By Someone Else’s Traumatic Event?
Rachel, not her real name, stood stunned as she witnessed a car run into and knock a bicyclist to the ground. Rachel did what she could to apply first aid as the woman was bleeding badly and she seemed to go in and out of consciousness.
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How Can the Trauma of Childhood Still be Affecting You?
Evan (not his real name) exploded. His three-year-old son had smeared peanut butter on the tray of his high chair. In response, his son cried in protest that he just wanted to use the peanut butter for finger painting, Usually, Evan had lots of tolerance when his son experimented this way, but today he had none. He knew his reaction was over the top for something relatively minor.
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ARTICLES ABOUT ANXIETY
What Is Behind Your Anxiety Attack?
Out of the blue, it happened. Julie’s (not her real name) heart pounded; she sweated profusely and could not catch her breath. Just as with the previous anxiety attacks, her fear became so intense she thought she was about to die as she drove into work. When she arrived at work ten minutes later she sat in her car until the trembling had ceased.
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Are You Anxious During Job Interviews? 3 Steps to Take Before the Interview
Manuel (not his real name) did not know if he could keep trying any longer. For six months he had been going through one job interview after another. He had read enough to know how to present himself, had written good resumes, and had a good work history. He concluded that he did not get the job offers because he failed the interviews. Manuel suspected that it had something to do with being anxious.
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ARTICLES ABOUT DISSOCIATION
How To Identify Severe Dissociative Disorders After Trauma
Tom (not his real name) was stunned. The last he remembered he was at home enjoying a cold Sunday winter morning with his family. And now… well, he found himself at a biker’s bar. Instead of his fashionable trousers and shirt, he was wearing leather chaps and jacket. To his shock, he was holding a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. He hated both.
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Has Dissociation After a Trauma Left You Feeling Spacey?
She knew she would not be able to stop the car in time. The previous night’s snow was now ice on the road. As though watching a movie, the woman could feel herself floating outside of the car as it fell down into the gorge 100 feet below. From above, she saw the car move as if in slow motion, gliding through the air until if came to rest upright at the edge of the creek.
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ARTICLES ABOUT TREATMENT OF TRAUMA
Have You Lost Your Confidence After a Trauma? How SOMATIC EXPERIENCING© Can Help
The car accident was six months ago, but Chris (not her real name) still was too anxious to drive. The rear end collision that had come while she waited for a city bus to take on passengers left her not only with surgical scars but emotional ones as well. Aware that she was too disoriented about direction and space to drive, she had to rely on her husband to take her everywhere, including to therapy sessions with me.
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Is PTSD Ruining or Running Your Life? 6 Self Help Ideas for Treatment of Trauma
John (not his real name) loved his wife and enjoyed their physical intimacy, as long as he was in control. As their relationship deepened, his wife also wanted to initiate sex. This terrified John and whenever she came close, he froze. Her touch repulsed him and he just wanted to get away. His heart raced and the panic kept him from thinking clearly.
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7 Thoughts That Prevent You From Seeking Help After a Traumatic Event (And Why You May Want to Rethink Them)
Brian (not his real name) closed the door of the aircraft and guided the passenger boarding bridge back toward the airport. Although he had been working at the airport for five years, he had no warning of what was to follow. With temperatures below freezing, the plane had to be de-iced before leaving the bay. The airplane waited a long time to take off.
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Is Touch Therapy Needed To Heal From Trauma?
Rebecca (not her real name) thought she could take it no longer. Nearly every day since the attack a year ago she had been in pain. The assault had happened in the parking lot next to her car after work one evening. She had been able to fight him off by using her legs. Read More…