What is Trauma?

Every single person will experience some form of trauma in their lives. It is an inevitable and inescapable side effect of being a human being. How we respond to traumatic events, however, will vary greatly among every individual based on the severity of the trauma, our backgrounds, our support systems, and our environments.

Trauma can be simply defined as a stressful, frightening, or distressing event that is difficult to cope with and outside of one’s control. Trauma can happen at any age, and it ranges from severe, life-altering life events to smaller, emotionally damaging everyday moments. When an individual has suffered a traumatic experience or series of events from which they cannot seem to recover, trauma-informed care through a licensed trauma therapist is extremely beneficial. At Christian Counseling of Tampa, we provide trauma-informed care to help you navigate the path to recovery with guidance and compassion.

How do I know if I need trauma therapy?

Sometimes, people may be unaware that they are experiencing trauma symptoms. They may not realize that they had a traumatic event, and this may lead to untreated emotions which can worsen over time. Signs that you may be suffering from trauma include:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• General irritability

• Anger

• Overwhelming fears

• Obsessive behaviors

• Withdrawing from everyday life activities

• Insomnia

• Loss of appetite

• Seeking coping mechanisms through unhealthy means

• PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)  

Understanding your symptoms as potentially related to trauma is a first step, and then learning to process those emotions and get to the root cause of the traumatic experience is crucial. At Christian Counseling of Tampa, our trauma-informed therapists are experienced in working with clients across all walks of life, offering personalized care.

unhealed trauma

It often starts with recognizing the symptoms (many of which are listed above). Speaking with a trained professional who can ask you the right questions to dig further into the events that shaped you will offer the tools to confront past trauma and begin to process it in an emotionally healthy way. One of our licensed therapists in Tampa, specializing in trauma, can help you examine your behavioral and thought patterns, your emotions, relationships, and the cyclical issues that tend to drive your days. Utilizing different questions and tools, trauma-informed therapists empower you to address the event or series of events that led to the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

impact of untreated trauma

Traumatic events lead to more than just heightened emotions. Trauma affects the entire body, both physically and emotionally. When you experience trauma, your brain releases cortisol into the body. This chemical response is your body’s defense mechanism, meant to help you flee dangerous situations, but when you experience heightened trauma or extended exposure to traumatic experiences, those cortisol levels remain elevated in the body leading to increased inflammation, which can ultimately lead to physical health problems such as poor cardiovascular health, stroke, high blood pressure, or heart attacks. Elevated cortisol and inflammation in the body can also lead to autoimmune disorders and cancers. 

In addition to the physical side effects of stress, unresolved trauma also puts a person at risk for mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. An individual suffering from trauma is more likely to look for ways to cope with the stress and strain, leading to potential substance abuse problems. A trauma-informed therapist trained in recognizing these symptoms and stressors guides someone suffering from overwhelming stress through the events that shaped them.

common trauma responses 

Most people have heard of the ‘fight or flight’ response that the body utilizes in dangerous situations, but in reality, the brain is equipped with four mechanisms for defense. Your past experiences, personality, and environment all have an impact on your responses to trauma. When you experience a short trauma, these chemical responses settle quickly, but when you’re exposed to prolonged trauma or an event that leaves a lasting mark physically or emotionally, these chemical responses become heightened and elevated for longer periods of time. The four responses to trauma are Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn.

Fight: When your fight mechanism is activated, you may find yourself responding to events aggressively. This is your anger response. Signs that you may be stuck in fight mode include (but are not limited to):

• Increased heart rate

• Higher blood pressure

• Intense feelings of anger

• An urge to lash out at even the smallest offense

• Feeling easily agitated

• Hypervigilance

One who is stuck in fight mode may find themselves quick to anger, often offended, and prone to damaging relationships with the people they love.

Flight: In flight mode, a person will have the urge to run away—to flee what their brain perceives as danger. Like the ‘fight’ mode, flight is often accompanied by a rush of adrenaline and increased heart rate. Signs that you might be stuck in flight mode include (but are not limited to): 

• Panic and anxiety

• The urge to flee

• A desire to isolate

• Fidgeting

• A feeling of being trapped

• Avoiding confrontation or perceived threats

A person stuck in flight mode will often leave any potentially stressful situation, including conversations that feel threatening or confrontational. They can potentially isolate themselves, which can lead to depression and anxiety disorders.

Freeze: While fight and flight are stress responses that send your body into some sort of motion, the freeze response is your brain’s way of shutting down. Some animals are known to play dead when they are in dangerous or stressful situations—they go into what is scientifically known as tonic immobility. This extreme physical response allows their bodies to go completely still and numb, mimicking death and thereby protecting them from harm.

Humans can experience a form of this kind of brain freeze, particularly when they experience extreme trauma like physical or sexual abuse. Symptoms of freeze mode include (but are not limited to): 

• Decreased heart rate

• Detachment from the environment around you

• Holding your breath

• Confusion or disorientation

• A feeling of immobility

• Being unable to take action

• A sense of being out of control

A person stuck in freeze mode often feels as though they are incapable of acting in dangerous situations. They may even temporarily be rendered mute when faced with a perceived threat.

Fawn: In situations of abuse, a person may resort to the fawn mode. This is the response that tells a person it is safer to be subservient or obedient rather than to fight or flee. While similar to the freeze response, a person who fawns tends to focus on the needs of others while ignoring their own well-being because it feels safer than fighting back. Symptoms of fawn mode include (but are not limited to): 

• Unhealthy boundaries

• An inability to say no

• Being an extreme people-pleaser

• Placing others’ needs before your health and well-being

• Doing what you’re told no matter what

The fawn response is seen most often in abusive situations where one person has less power than another and submits to the more powerful in an attempt at self-preservation.

What does PTSD look like?

PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that may occur in a person who has experienced or witnessed a terrifying event, series of events or set of circumstances. Symptoms of PTSD can include flashbacks, outbursts, insomnia, emotional outbursts, nightmares, and severe anxiety.

Symptoms of PTSD can show up shortly after an event occurs, or they can lie dormant and appear many years later. PTSD symptoms can be grouped into four different categories: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and changes in physical and emotional reactions.

Effective Trauma Therapy in Tampa, FL

At Christian Counseling of Tampa, our licensed, trauma-informed specialists utilize a number of different therapy techniques based on the individual and their specific trauma-related needs. These include CBT, EMDR, and ART:

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): 

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness. 

At Christian Counseling of Tampa, our trauma informed-therapists utilize several strategies to help a person change his or her thinking patterns. These strategies may include:

• Helping a person evaluate the reality of their situation and reframe their thinking based on that reality.

• Gaining a deeper understanding of the behavior and motivations of others

• Developing problem-solving skills to cope with stressful situations

• Gaining confidence in one’s own abilities

• Learning to face and confront fears

• Equipping you with coping and relaxation techniques to calm the mind and body

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (A.R.T.)

Accelerated Resolution Therapy, often referred to as ART, is a form of psychotherapy with roots in existing evidence-based therapies but shown to achieve benefits much more rapidly (usually within 1-5 sessions). Clients suffering from trauma and other mental health problems such as Anxiety, Depression, Phobias, Panic Attacks, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Addictions/ Substance Abuse, Performance Anxiety, Family Issues, Victimization/Poor Self Image, Victimization/Sexual Abuse, Relationship Issues/Infidelity, Codependency, Grief, Job-Related Stress, Pain Management, Memory Enhancement and many other mental and physical conditions can experience remarkable benefits starting in the first session.

ART incorporates a combination of techniques used in many other traditional psychotherapies. ART works directly to reprogram how distressing memories and images are stored in the brain so that they no longer trigger strong physical and emotional reactions. ART accomplishes this through the use of rapid eye movements similar to eye movements that occur during dreaming. Although techniques similar to these are used in other types of therapies. ART’s very specific and directive approach can achieve rapid recovery from symptoms and reactions that may have been present for many years.  ART combines long respected, sound treatment practices with safe and effective methods validated by current scientific research studies conducted by the University of South Florida.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): This therapeutic tool focuses on an individual’s present concerns. The EMDR approach believes past emotionally charged experiences have major influences on your present emotions, sensations, and thoughts about yourself. As an example: “Do you ever feel worthless although you know you are a worthwhile person?” EMDR therapy is a form of trauma therapy that helps you break through emotional blocks that may keep you from living an adaptive, emotionally healthy life.

EMDR uses rapid sets of eye movements. These help you update disturbing experiences, much like what occurs during sleep. When you sleep, you alternate between regular sleep and REM (rapid eye movement). This sleep pattern helps you process things that are troubling you.

EMDR therapy replicates this sleep pattern. It alternates between sets of eye movements and brief reports about what you notice. This alternating process helps you update your memories to a healthier present perspective.

What’s Different About EMDR? 

EMDR focuses on the brain’s ability to always learn, take past experiences, and update them with present information. Adaptive learning is always updating memory network systems. Past emotionally charged experiences often interfere with your updating process. EMDR breaks through that interference. This form of trauma therapy in Tampa, FL helps let go of the past and update your experiences to a healthier present perspective. 

EMDR uses a set of procedures to organize your negative and positive feelings, emotions, and thoughts. Then, it uses bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or alternating tapping, as a way to help you work through those disturbing memories in an effective way.

Are you suffering from symptoms of trauma?

Every single person may be able to point to one of the symptoms listed above as something they struggle with, but that doesn’t mean all people are suffering from trauma. It’s important to assess the whole picture of your life to best understand the signs and symptoms of potential trauma-related emotions. 

A licensed, trauma-informed therapist is beneficial when looking to face the stresses of daily life. Utilizing the tools these trained therapists have offers you the best opportunity to face the trauma you have experienced in the past, or that you continue to experience today. 

INTERESTED IN GETTING STARTED WITH A THERAPIST IN TAMPA, FL?

Trauma can cast a shadow, but with the right support, you can move forward into a healthier, more peaceful future. At  Christian Counseling of Tampa, we are dedicated to helping you face your trauma with compassion, expertise, and faith-based guidance.

If you're ready to take the next step in healing from trauma, consider reaching out to a trauma therapist at either our North or South Tampa location, who can provide personalized support and guidance. Remember, you're not alone on this path—healing is a shared journey. Reach out today to learn more about our services and how we can assist you.

Read more in our Trauma Series:

Is Trauma Holding You Back

Finding purpose After Pain

You don't have to suffer in silence or feel overwhelmed by your trauma. Our therapists can offer support for trauma from our North Tampa, FL office located in the Northdale neighborhood and our South Tampa, FL office. To start trauma therapy, follow these simple steps:  

Contact Christian Counseling of Tampa

Meet with a caring therapist

Start learning to manage your symptoms associated with your trauma.

OTHER SERVICES OFFERED WITH CHRISTIAN COUNSELING OF TAMPA

Counseling for trauma individuals isn't the only service offered by our Tampa, FL-based practice. Our team is happy to offer a variety of services in support of your mental health. Other services offered include child therapy, premarital counseling, Christian counseling, therapy for anxiety, marriage intensives, trauma, and therapy for depression. We use a variety of treatment modalities including CBT, EFT, grief therapy, and more! Feel free to learn more about us by visiting our FAQ or blog today!