There is no definitive list of who can experience trauma — because anyone can. Children, teenagers, adults, men, and women can all go through something traumatic and experience symptoms of trauma.
Trauma, at the base level, is a response to a highly emotional event or situation. Trauma commonly occurs after someone experiences abusive situations. But it can also be caused after being in a car accident, experiencing the tragic death of someone you knew, or witnessing or being the victim of a crime.
Generally, there are common symptoms that are a result of traumatic experiences. These symptoms can range from flashbacks, nightmares, difficulty sleeping, changes in eating habits, being irritable or on edge all the time, or avoidance of anything similar to the past trauma.
But no two people experience trauma symptoms in the same way. All of this makes healing from trauma complex because it has a widespread impact that can vary, which is all the more reason why trauma-informed care is important.
Trauma-Informed Care
The foundation of trauma-informed care is the knowledge that it can happen to anyone. A founding principle of trauma-informed care is that a traumatic experience, at some point in a person’s life, is more likely to occur than it wouldn’t.
More than anything, the focus is on what happened in the past to cause a trauma response.
Trauma is a unique experience that impacts everyone so differently. This makes trauma-informed care so transformational for an individual’s life. It focuses on the bigger picture of the past and present to create a tailored approach for a client to walk into the future.
5 Principles of Trauma-Informed Care
1. Safety
Safety is a top priority when it comes to trauma therapy sessions. A client should feel safe in both terms of physical and emotional spaces and boundaries.
2. Choice
With any type of therapy or medical-related issue, autonomy is important. It is the idea that a person can accept or deny any procedures or policies related to their individual care.
3. Collaboration
To ensure the success and safety of any treatment plan, the licensed professional and client must work with one another to come to an agreement about the decisions or approaches being made.
4. Trust
Within trauma-informed care, there needs to be trust and boundaries that are established between the client and the licensed professional. Both in terms of professional and personal boundaries. Trust, specifically, is important because it helps establish a connection in the client’s mind that the person they are working with has the best intentions for them and makes informed decisions based on that.
5. Empowerment
When someone is experiencing a medical issue or symptoms of PTSD, they should always feel as if they are being taken seriously and not dismissed. Empowering people to know that they are being listened to and heard on a deeper level is going to help them feel supported as they move forward with their care plan.
Trauma-Informed Care and Why It’s Beneficial
One of the best reasons to practice trauma-informed care is that it will reduce the risk of someone becoming further traumatized after certain experiences.
It also provides the client with a baseline of what they can expect from their treatment plan with a therapist or licensed professionals. For the professional, it ensures that standards are being met to help trauma survivors.
Going through a traumatic experience is already hard enough. Getting the proper support and care to heal from it should not have to be. If you are hesitant about anything related to your care, please don’t hesitate to contact us for trauma therapy.
At Onyx, our trauma-informed therapists are here to provide compassionate, and ethical care, and a safe environment to help you heal. Get in touch today to speak to a trauma-informed therapist.
