Trauma Therapy in Farmington Hills

Trauma? Me? No.

Our view of trauma as a society is really limited. Most of us only think of trauma as something we can get from either a.) being a veteran or b.) sexual assault. Both are incredibly traumatic, no doubt, but there are plenty of other life experiences that people pass off as “that thing that happened” or “it’s not nearly as bad as what most people go through” which minimize the host of physical and emotional symptoms that can come with exposure to various kinds of trauma.

While we totally get why people don’t associate their messy childhood, a freak car accident, bullying, exposure to negative stereotypes, our brains and bodies often disagree. Our brains are hard-wired to remember negative experiences to help protect us from future negative experiences. Think about the trauma that we’re not able to process as something that our body and brain continue to drag around with us to try to keep us safe.

Picture the area of our brain that process trauma like a funnel. Sometimes, instead of little pebbles being fed into the funnel, we get dumped with a few larger rocks. These larger rocks clog the funnel leaving the trauma stuck in a way that creates physical and emotional symptoms. These symptoms are telling us that our funnel is full, our brain and body are overwhelmed and we need to deal with it.

Curious about trauma symptoms?

Here are a few things to look for:

• Physical issues from headaches, stomach aches, hearing difficulties, aching muscles, tension, unexplained pain, frequent fatigue.
• Feeling like you’re unlovable, broken, not worthy or frequently hopeless about yourself and your future or that no one is trustworthy.             
• Feeling overwhelming negative views about other people or the world like “no one can ever be trusted” or “the world is always a dangerous place.”
• Feeling like something bad is always about to happen.
• Feeling disconnected, numb, avoiding reminders of the event.
• Distressing recollections or flashbacks of the event.
• Difficulty relaxing, feeling on-edge/jumpy.
• Mood symptoms like anger, irritability, anxiety and depression.
• Difficulty with memory and concentration.
• Sleep issues or nightmares.