What Is Medical Trauma?
You may have medical trauma if you have experienced any of the following things:
- Been diagnosed with a chronic medical condition
- Traumatic injury
- Difficult childbirth
- COVID
- Negative experiences with medical treatment or medical negligence
Medical trauma can be related to any injury, illness, or medical procedure. You can also have been witness to any of these things to have PTSD from medical trauma.
Explore Medical Trauma Therapy Online or In-Person
How to Cope With Medical Trauma?
It is possible to cope with medical trauma. Therapy gives you the tools to effectively heal from medical trauma symptoms and reclaim your confidence.
Our trauma therapists have created a list of things they found most helpful for their clients overcoming medical trauma:
- Somatic regulation: This means learning to relax the muscles in your body to manage and control your stress response. Learning to regulate your body has helped many of our patients decrease and even eliminate symptoms of depression, anxiety disorders, and PTSD. You can do this through breathing exercises, yoga, and other forms of movement therapy.
- Meditation: According to Pubmed, meditation-based therapy is a promising approach for managing PTSD. Meditation doesn’t have to be sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed with no thoughts for 30 minutes a day. If that sounds intimidating, try washing your hands while focusing on the temperature of the water, the feeling of your hands touching each other, and the consistency of the soap. Anything can be meditative.
- Psychiatry: Although medication alone is not substantial trauma treatment, our therapists believe that medication can be a good starting point to help get you to a place where you feel ready and comfortable enough to begin trauma therapy.
- Trauma therapy: The most effective way to eliminate symptoms of your medical trauma is our trauma therapy curriculum in which you will begin learning to manage your stress response and emotions, process your negative thoughts and beliefs without the retelling of the stressful event, and integrate these changes into your daily life.
- Social support: Pubmed findings suggested that social support during trauma treatment was associated with greater reductions in PTSD symptoms.
Our center offers a comprehensive approach to healing your medical trauma, which addresses your symptoms, personal needs, and goals. By incorporating these strategies, our therapists have proven themselves as the most effective trauma therapists.
Embrace Healing The Power of Trust in Therapeutic Relationships
“In my experience, the most effective aspect of therapy is the therapeutic relationship. Establishing trust between a client and clinician is the first step to healing.”
What Does a Trauma Therapist Do?
Our certified and compassionate trauma therapists create a safe and comfortable environment for you to explore the effects of your trauma, process the events that led to your medical trauma, and create and implement a plan to minimize the effects of trauma on your life.
What Are the Signs of Medical PTSD?
Medical PTSD symptoms include:
- Disturbing memories of the traumatic event
- Dreams of the traumatic event
- Feeling highly upset when something reminds you of the traumatic event
- Avoiding reminders, such as people, places, or things of the traumatic event
- Trouble remembering parts of the event
- Feelings of guilt, shame, or fear
- Irritability or anger
- Hypervigilance
- Trouble sleeping
You may not experience all of these medical PTSD symptoms. Any combination of trauma symptoms can be treated with the help of an empathetic therapist.
How Is Medical PTSD Treated?
Our therapists utilize a tested and proven trauma therapy curriculum developed by Liz Chelak, MSW, CCTSI, CRPS. The most crucial aspects of this curriculum, however, are your desires, input, and level of comfort in the therapeutic process. Our therapists value your self-determination, so a majority of your treatment is up to the person being treated- you. We believe each client knows what they need best, and our therapists are here to guide you and help you choose the right treatment for you.
However, an approximate outline of medical trauma therapy at the Trauma Therapy Center includes:
- A trauma symptom assessment and psychoeducation on what trauma is, how it affects your mental and physical health, and what to expect in trauma therapy.
- Learning somatic regulation techniques to help you manage your emotional responses and maintain self-regulation. For most clients, learning somatic regulation eliminates most trauma symptoms.
- Some may want to continue treatment and process their trauma. Our therapists specialize in numerous evidence-based trauma therapy interventions such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and more. Your therapist will outline what each intervention consists of and what you can expect to help you make your decision on which you would like to use for your treatment.
The Trauma Therapy Center offers a client-centered approach, which prioritizes self-determination and your participation in therapy. Our therapists will support you every step of your recovery.
Is It Normal to Feel Traumatized After Surgery?
Many people go through surgeries and feel completely fine after. However, some feel traumatized, which is normal too. This can happen if the surgery is unexpected or results in complications or pain. Sometimes, surgery can make you feel vulnerable or helpless, which is traumatizing on its own. If you are experiencing trauma symptoms after surgery it is completely normal and there is help available. Talk to one of our top therapists to learn more about why you feel traumatized and to receive trauma-informed care.
What Is Post Operative Stress Disorder?
Postoperative stress disorder (POSD) is a mental health condition that occurs after undergoing surgery.
The symptoms of POSD are similar to those of PTSD including:
- Distress when reminded of the procedure
- Flashbacks to the procedure or recovery process
- Avoiding any reminders of the procedure, such as medical appointments
- Feeling numb and distant from others
- Feelings of anxiety, depression, or emptiness
- Nightmares, insomnia, or sleeping too much
- Difficulty with memory or concentration
These symptoms are a normal biological response to experiencing trauma. These responses can be treated through trauma therapy.
Who Benefits From Medical Trauma Therapy?
Imagine waking up in the morning after a good night’s sleep and not dreading the day. You feel an increasing sense of peace. You feel confident and safe going out into the world and dealing with the challenges that lie ahead. You can feel your emotions without getting overwhelmed by them or letting them take over your day. You feel energized and motivated. Your relationships are improving. You know what you want and have a plan to achieve it. You can achieve reduced medical trauma PTSD symptoms by working with our therapists at the Trauma Therapy Center and begin creating the rest of your life.
How to Get Medical Trauma Therapy?
To get medical trauma therapy you can call our office and speak with one of our helpful receptionists. You can also contact us by email and ask any questions you have to help you better determine what therapy intervention is best for you.
How Often to See a Medical Trauma Therapist?
Trauma therapy works best if you meet with your therapist once per week. The length of therapy depends on the severity of your PTSD symptoms, your personal goals, and the treatment plan you and your therapist create.