Trauma-Informed Care
Find the Support You Need with Quality Trauma-Informed Therapists
At Blue Water Counseling, our therapists understand the impact of trauma on individuals and families, and we are experienced in providing a safe environment to do the work of therapy. Our skilled therapists can recognize the effects of trauma and adversity on mental health and behavior and are trained to respond with best practices in trauma-informed care. We value a collaborative, client-based approach in which the client and therapist mutually decide upon goals for treatment. We offer a variety of trauma-informed treatment approaches, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Resolution (EMDR), Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), and Somatic Therapy. Our standard is to treat the whole person, and to recognize the impact of past traumas and adversity on an individual’s present-day functioning. We have a team of psychologists, social workers, professional counselors and psychiatrists ready to help you work through your problems toward a positive resolution. Take the first step toward healing with the help of our highly qualified, professional team.
Call us today to make an appointment: (810) 985-5125.
What is PTSD?
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a trauma and stressor disorder that develops in some people after witnessing or experiencing an event (or series of events) that is shocking, threatening, and dangerous (either physically or emotionally). In some situations, PTSD can result from being exposed to the details of trauma as part of a person’s work, such as first responders or members of the military.
While the human brain has an amazing capability to process stressful information, it is sometimes impaired so that the event is stored in a “state specific” form. This means that images, feelings, thoughts, and sensory information can be present as if the event just “happened” no matter how long ago it was. When memories are stored in this raw, unprocessed form, problems, symptoms, and mental health disorders can result. The development of PTSD is one of those potential problems.
How can PTSD affect your life?
While everyone has both positive and negative vivid emotional memories, the memories associated with an event that results in PTSD are laden with fear, pain, and sometimes, anger. You might be shopping in a store and then suddenly feel disconnected from your present surroundings and suddenly have an image, feeling or body sensation just like when the trauma happened. These intrusive experiences or “flashbacks,” make it exceedingly difficult to focus on tasks, interactions with people, or even to feel “normal” without anxiety or distress. Other people experience nightmares, which may or may not be like the original trauma. Sometimes nightmares can be symbolic and have themes like the unprocessed experience.
It is common for people with PTSD to try to avoid anything or anyone that might trigger a reminder of the trauma. This avoidance takes many forms, including people, places, situations, activities, feelings, memories, or thoughts. Additionally, you might find yourself noticing more negative thoughts and feelings and less desire to engage with others or in activities that you once enjoyed. As a result, people with PTSD can develop relationship problems and feel distant from people that they love. Sometimes it is even difficult to access loving feelings towards partners and children.
People with PTSD experience other changes, such as irritability, outbursts of anger, problems concentrating, and difficulty sleeping, to name a few. You might find yourself becoming very “hypervigilant” and always keenly aware of what is going on in your environment. Some people increase their use of alcohol or drugs. Some engage in risky behavior, such as high-speed driving or sexual promiscuity. While PTSD has a devastating impact on people’s lives, the good news is that it is treatable.
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.
Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes.
EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing resumes.
Who can benefit from EMDR?
EMDR therapy is well-suited for individuals who have experienced various forms of trauma, whether from a single distressing event or a series of accumulated negative experiences. Trauma can take many forms, including physical or emotional abuse, bullying, accidents, combat experiences, natural disasters, or the sudden loss of a loved one. In addition, even those who have experienced long-standing emotional neglect or witnessed traumatic events may benefit from EMDR therapy.
While not everyone who experiences trauma will go on to develop PTSD, for those struggling with intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance, nightmares, and other symptoms that often disrupt daily life, EMDR therapy has been shown to be an effective and time-efficient treatment.
What is EMDR therapy and why is it used to treat PTSD?