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PRIVATE PSYCHOLOGIST OSLO

Trauma treatment

When we talk about trauma and trauma psychology, we are talking about wounds and self-protection. Burnt children shun the fire and we use unknown forces in our lives to avoid tearing up old unprocessed wounds. This can limit our life development quite radically.

Trauma treatment therefore always involves a form of exposure and reprocessing of the original events. The organism is finally allowed to react to what it has been through, rather than being stuck in fear, avoidance and a constructed and often destructive and imprecise story about what happened.

What is trauma?

A psychological trauma can be defined as a mental wound or injury caused by outside influence. Trauma includes isolated accidental trauma, such as in a serious car accident or illness.

Most often it is repeated trauma, where serious incidents have occurred several times over a long period of time. Examples are mental and physical domestic violence as well as various forms of neglect and abuse.

These are often called relational trauma, complex trauma or invisible trauma.

So how does trauma treatment work?

Self-regulation in trauma treatment

Treatment of trauma involves changing both bodily reactions and mental perceptions related to the trauma and triggers. Trauma treatment includes active collaboration between client and therapist.

We create a safe framework with a context where symptoms are understood in light of the person's lived life and experience. Exercising the ability to self-regulate is central to all trauma treatment.

As therapists, we offer our knowledge and understanding and offer graded tools for observing and regulating our own degree of activation in the face of what we call internal and / or external triggers.

A trigger is something or someone that consciously or unconsciously reminds of traumatic events from the past.

For those who have experienced a car accident, the trigger may be to get in a car. For people with relational trauma, anything that includes closeness, intimacy and contact with other people can be a trigger. 

Trauma treatment: From triggering to security

Triggers have in common that they can activate fight, escape and freezer the response in the nervous system. If this system is locked in an "on" mode over time, this could lead to significant avoidance and a number of complex symptoms that maintain and / or gradually worsen the disorder. 

Slowly but surely, one works to ensure that the victim can return to, or perhaps for the first time, feel safe and present in their own body in situations that are objectively safe. Respond to what is happening "here and now". Keywords are contact, security, mastery, control and agent.  

Resilience, safety and trauma treatment

It is important to mention that it is completely natural to experience strong reactions in the wake of traumatic events. For many, such incidents will also not lead to psychological health problems that persist over time and reduce function to the extent that there is a need for follow-up by a psychologist. 

If you live in imminent danger or are constantly exposed to violence or abuse, your mental illnesses cannot be treated. Then the most important thing is that you get to safety first. Contact someone you trust or a crisis center.

Treatment of trauma at the Trauma Center

You can read more about our approaches to trauma treatment on our website. We have cutting-edge expertise in a number of recognized methods and work continuously with professional and in-house development. It is easy to get in touch with us and book an appointment.