Are you experiencing trauma after an accident? It’s time to seek help!
As the saying goes, “Accidents happen”, and unlike many of those old sayings, this one’s all too true. Everyone, at some point in their lives, will likely be involved in some type of “accident”, whether it be big or little, minor or serious. And while most of the time, we can move on from a minor accident without too much trouble, serious accidents can have major physical and emotional repercussions.
We all react to traumatic events differently. Some people find it easy to put the accident behind them and move on with their lives quickly and easily. For others, however, a traumatic accident can leave emotional scars that may be difficult to recognize and even more difficult to overcome. Yet help is available. With the help of a trained and licensed therapist or counselor, it is possible to identify and overcome accident-related trauma so you, too, can get on to living your best life.
The first step to healing after a traumatic event is identifying the impact it has had on your mental health; that step alone can be challenging! For many people, the trauma begins when feelings of helplessness become overwhelming: an accident is an event out of our control. In most cases, we didn’t see the accident coming and there was nothing we could do to prevent it. For people struggling with post-accident trauma, that feeling of having lost control bleeds into everyday life. The world becomes a scary place where we are no longer in control of our lives; this, in turn, leads to an increase in stress and anxiety, depression, and feelings of hopelessness.
Counseling Techniques That Really Work!
The key to successful therapy after a traumatic accident is regaining that sense of control. Luckily, today there are a variety of different counseling techniques that can help break the cycle of negative thinking preventing self-healing after a traumatic accident. Working with a licensed therapist who is trained in multiple techniques may be the best way to identify the treatment approach that will work best for you; in many cases, a combination of counseling techniques may be most effective.
The type of counseling most people think of right off the start is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Also sometimes called “talk therapy”, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy involves just that: talking to your counselor or therapist about your feelings and emotions. The therapist is there to guide you through the healing process by breaking down overwhelming problems into smaller, more manageable parts and working with you to overcome the cycle of negative thinking and reestablish your feeling of control.
Another type of psychotherapy that has proven extremely successful in helping accident victims overcome emotional trauma is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). EMDR involves using eye movements to identify triggering memories and then transform the meaning of those memories on an emotional level. The key to EMDR’s success is its ability to unblock the mind’s natural self-healing capabilities, enabling the patient to be empowered by—instead of overwhelmed by—the memory of the event at the root of the emotional trauma.
Another new form of psychotherapy—Neurolease™—is also designed to promote self-healing by restoring healthy communication between the body’s “fight, flight, or freeze” response (triggered by a traumatic event) and the “relax, repair, and restore” response. As with EMDR, Neurolease™ does not require verbal communication; instead, it utilizes the expertise of a trained therapist in combination with massage to promote feelings of safety, control, and relaxation that have been inhibited by emotional trauma.
Just as we all respond to traumatic events differently, we also respond to therapy differently. The key to effective healing after an accident lies in working with a licensed counselor or therapist to find the therapy technique or techniques that work for you. Recovery from the emotional trauma of an accident is possible, but it may not be possible on your own. So if you are experiencing emotional trauma after an accident, we encourage you to seek help so you, too, can continue to live a healthy, happy life.
Collaborative Therapeutic Services (CTS) seeks to maximize clients’ options by offering a variety of services, hours, and service providers with diverse specializations. We offer evening & weekend appointments. Have questions? Contact Us Here or Call 813-951-7346. Located in Tampa, Florida.