OKLAHOMA CITY –<\/p>\n
According to the World Health Organization, about 70% of adults have experienced some sort of traumatic event in their lifetime, in varying degrees.<\/p>\n
Which is why we here at News 9 wanted to put together some resources to help anyone who may be struggling with unresolved trauma.<\/p>\n
We turned to a licensed counselor in Oklahoma, Leah Danley, to talk about how to get started, resources available, treatment methods, and what you could hope to gain through seeking help.<\/p>\n
\n What are common signs of trauma?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not one size fits all,\u201d Danley said. \u201cWe all have different kinds of lived experience and traumas that we\u2019re trying to process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some common signs of trauma, according to Danley, include:<\/p>\n
Feeling overwhelmedChronic anxietyChronic depressionFlashbacksHyper-vigilanceChronic illnessesHeadaches<\/p>\n
Just like the symptoms, Danley says the timeline when people are impacted by trauma is different for everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see people that have had chronic abuse, neglect, all of those kinds of things from childhood, and maybe don\u2019t even show up until they\u2019re 50, 60 years old,\u201d She said. \u201cAnd then I see people who also have had very definite trauma from like, a car accident or a series of car accidents, and they come and get help right away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times it\u2019s generally when the suffering gets so much that their life is just feeling very not functional anymore,\u201d She said. \u201cBut people usually get to a point where they\u2019re tired of suffering, and they want a better life, and then that\u2019s when they make the call.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n What is EMDR and how can it help?<\/p>\n
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It\u2019s a trauma-focused therapy that is led by a clinician.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith trauma, you are freezing in time,\u201d Danley explained. \u201cLet\u2019s just take something that\u2019s fairly common. It\u2019s something in childhood. So let\u2019s say somebody is five years old and they have some abuse or neglect or something. Their system will freeze that in time and isolate it into a separate neural network as a way to explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danley said responses to trauma can happen at unpredictable times and to seemingly unrelated situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they\u2019re just basically reliving the trauma today like it\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said EMDR is a way to help the patient, \u201cBring it to the present day, where the nervous system can finally relax, digest that, and say, oh, I\u2019m safe now. This isn\u2019t happening all the time. It\u2019s not that I\u2019m broken. I\u2019m okay. My nervous system just has been trying to handle it and didn\u2019t know how.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch the video below to hear Danley further explain what the therapy entails.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a brain science to it where, it is some people say it\u2019s similar to REM sleep, where your eyes are going back and forth at night, and you\u2019re trying to process information,\u201d Danley explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way I explain it to clients is there\u2019s an innate healing system within us all. And when we are able to finally get out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danley explains more about how EMDR can help trauma survivors in the video below.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no one-size-fits-all,\u201d Danley said. \u201cAnd I would encourage everyone to listen to their instincts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not going to hurt generally to just try it. And again, if you\u2019re with a safe, trusted therapist in an environment where you feel like you can really open up and that person can walk you through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n How can I seek help for trauma from an Oklahoma therapist?<\/p>\n
Danley outlined the steps to seeking help:<\/p>\n
Intake comes first to see if the therapist is a good fit for youPatient will share trauma history with the therapist to determine next stepsThe therapist will work on building trust and stability with the patientIf determined to be the best path, EMDR treatment would begin<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it doesn\u2019t feel comfortable, you can leave. You do not have to stick with something that doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s working for you,\u201d Danley said.<\/p>\n
\n What are the results of EMDR trauma therapy?<\/p>\n
Danley said many patients seek out help to relieve symptoms, such as insomnia, overeating, or overworking.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then, when I say, what do you think that will give you? What most people will say is what they want to feel,\u201d Danley said. \u201cThey want to feel safe. They want to feel free. They want to feel peaceful. So that\u2019s really mostly what everybody wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n Are there other therapies for trauma?<\/p>\n
Danley said trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy and prolonged exposure therapy are also well-researched and can work for some people. Newer methods, such as internal family systems and somatic experiencing, have less research behind them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere may be something that\u2019s more of a fit for you,\u201d Danley said. \u201cLike maybe you always dance to, cope with the trauma and so somatic experiencing or something with more movement might be an area that you feel good and called to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n Why don\u2019t people seek help for trauma?<\/p>\n
Danley listed several reasons people avoid seeking help:<\/p>\n
Desire to be independentComparison to others\u2019 situationsFinancial reasonsLack of knowledge about resourcesFamily or societal pressuresFear of emotion<\/p>\n
Some resources Danley recommends:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OKLAHOMA CITY – According to the World Health Organization, about 70% of adults have experienced some sort of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260],"class_list":{"0":"post-344434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}