Confronting and frightening life experiences can live inside the mind and body, showing up at the most unexpected times and leading to a whole new set of challenges. Trauma is tough. Whether people struggle with severe and life-threatening traumatic experiences, their traumatic experiences are rooted deep in childhood, or they’re dealing with an ongoing trauma like a difficult medical diagnosis, therapy can be a huge help in healing from the effects of trauma as well as increasing overall sense of stability and self-confidence. In this blog, we’re going to take a look at how cognitive behavioral therapy can help with trauma recovery.
What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an approach to counseling that has been tested and proven effective in improving emotional and mental health, relationship stability, alcohol and substance misuse, and a range of other concerns often explored in therapy. CBT is a goal-oriented approach to therapy that involves a collaborative process between therapist and client where skills and strategies for managing concerns are learned in session and practiced between visits until the client achieves greater stability and resilience independently.
How Can CBT Help Heal Trauma?
For individuals who are struggling to overcome a traumatic event or events in their past, CBT offers beneficial tools for coping with the way individuals respond to trauma triggers and process the emotions, thoughts, and behaviors connected with their trauma. Specifically, CBT helps individuals to heal and recover from trauma by increasing understanding of how trauma impacts thinking, feeling, and acting. Then, the individual can take steps to change the challenging or not beneficial thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This can include addressing a range of issues related to trauma recovery, including:
- Learning to identify trauma triggers and understand how they affect thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
- Understanding how physical changes (weight loss or gain, fluctuations in sleep patterns, loss of energy, unexplained pain) may be attached to trauma processing
- Managing overwhelming emotions, pervasive thoughts, and problematic or unsafe behaviors triggered by trauma response
- Reclaiming activities and relationships that the individual enjoys that have been negatively impacted by trauma response
- Setting and maintaining good boundaries to increase sense of safety and self-confidence
How Do I Work with Your Team?
If you’re an NYC resident struggling to heal from trauma, the Center for CBT in New York City offers a safe and welcoming therapy environment where you can begin to make progress toward trauma recovery. To find out more about our services, including CBT for trauma recovery, please take a few minutes to get in touch with our team. The first step is simple. Complete our six-questions request form. Then, wait for one of our team members to reach out to answer your questions and finalize the details of your first visit.
