Trauma Therapy Brooklyn
6 Key Benefits of Trauma Therapy
Symptom Reduction
Trauma therapy effectively reduces symptoms associated with trauma, such as anxiety, depression, and hypervigilance. Through targeted interventions, clients learn to manage intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, and emotional dysregulation. This leads to improved daily functioning, better sleep, and an overall enhanced quality of life.
Improved Emotional Regulation
Trauma often disrupts one's ability to manage emotions effectively. Trauma therapy helps individuals develop skills to identify, understand, and regulate their emotions. This improved emotional control leads to better stress management, reduced reactivity, and more stable mood, fostering healthier relationships and improved self-esteem.
Cognitive Restructuring
Trauma can distort one's beliefs about self, others, and the world. Therapy helps individuals identify and challenge these negative thought patterns. By restructuring these cognitive distortions, clients develop a more balanced, realistic perspective. This cognitive shift promotes resilience, self-compassion, and a more positive outlook on life.
Enhanced Coping Skills
Trauma therapy equips individuals with a diverse set of coping strategies to manage trauma-related stress. These may include mindfulness techniques, grounding exercises, and relaxation methods. Developing these skills empowers clients to effectively handle triggers and stressors, reducing reliance on maladaptive coping mechanisms.
Improved Relationships
Trauma often impacts interpersonal relationships. Therapy helps individuals understand how trauma affects their interactions and attachment styles. By addressing these issues, clients can improve communication, set healthy boundaries, and rebuild trust. This leads to more fulfilling, secure relationships with family, friends, and partners.
Post-Traumatic Growth
While focusing on healing, trauma therapy also facilitates post-traumatic growth. Clients often discover newfound strength, resilience, and meaning through their recovery journey. This growth can lead to increased self-awareness, a deeper appreciation for life, and the development of new life goals and values.
Modalities We Use
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Developed by Francine Shapiro, EMDR is a structured therapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress resulting from traumatic life experiences. It involves bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements) while processing traumatic memories. EMDR helps the brain reprocess traumatic information until it is no longer psychologically disruptive.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT):
CPT is a specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy that helps patients learn how to challenge and modify unhelpful beliefs related to the trauma. It focuses on the connections between thoughts, feelings, behavior, and bodily sensations. CPT typically involves 12 sessions and has been shown to be particularly effective for PTSD.
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
This evidence-based treatment is designed to help children, adolescents, and their families overcome the negative effects of traumatic life events. It integrates cognitive behavioral, family, and humanistic principles with trauma-sensitive interventions. TF-CBT typically includes psychoeducation, relaxation skills, cognitive processing, trauma narration, and parental involvement.
Somatic Experiencing (SE)
Developed by Peter Levine, SE is a body-oriented approach to healing trauma and other stress disorders. It focuses on perceiving and releasing physical tension that remains in the body in the aftermath of trauma. SE helps individuals develop increased tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for Trauma
While originally developed for borderline personality disorder, DBT has been adapted for trauma treatment. It emphasizes learning skills in four key areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. These skills are particularly helpful for individuals dealing with complex trauma or PTSD.
Trauma Therapy at Crown Counseling: Our Approach
At Crown Counseling in Brooklyn, we recognize that trauma can have profound and long-lasting effects on an individual’s mental health and overall well-being. Our approach to trauma therapy is grounded in evidence-based practices and tailored to meet each client’s unique needs and experiences.
We begin with a comprehensive assessment to understand the nature of the trauma, its impact on the client’s life, and any co-occurring mental health issues. This initial evaluation helps us develop a personalized treatment plan that addresses the client’s specific concerns and goals.
Our trauma therapy sessions typically last 50-90 minutes, with the frequency determined by the client’s needs and the chosen treatment modality. Many clients start with weekly sessions, adjusting the frequency as therapy progresses. Our therapists are trained in multiple trauma-specific modalities, allowing for a flexible and integrative approach to treatment.
The effectiveness of trauma therapy is well-documented in research. A meta-analysis by Cusack et al. (2016) found that trauma-focused psychotherapies showed clinically significant improvements in PTSD symptoms [1]. Another study by Lenz et al. (2017) demonstrated that EMDR and CBT for trauma had large effect sizes in reducing PTSD symptoms, with gains maintained at follow-up [2].
At Crown Counseling, we’ve observed similar positive outcomes. In our recent internal survey, 82% of clients receiving trauma therapy reported a significant reduction in trauma-related symptoms after completing their treatment. Moreover, 75% reported improved daily functioning, and 70% noted enhanced relationships with others.
Our use of various evidence-based modalities allows us to address different aspects of trauma and its effects. EMDR has been particularly effective in helping clients process traumatic memories and reduce their emotional charge. Cognitive Processing Therapy has shown excellent results in helping clients challenge and modify trauma-related beliefs. For our younger clients and their families, Trauma-Focused CBT has been instrumental in addressing the impacts of childhood trauma.
We also recognize the importance of a holistic approach to trauma treatment. Many of our clients benefit from incorporating body-based interventions like Somatic Experiencing, which helps address the physical manifestations of trauma. For clients dealing with complex trauma or struggling with emotional regulation, our DBT-informed approaches have proven beneficial.
Cultural competence is a crucial aspect of our trauma therapy services. Brooklyn’s diverse population requires therapists who are sensitive to and knowledgeable about various cultural perspectives on trauma, healing, and mental health. Our therapists receive ongoing training in cultural competence to ensure that our services are accessible and effective for clients from all backgrounds.
In response to the increasing demand for flexible therapy options, Crown Counseling also offers teletherapy for trauma treatment. This has been particularly beneficial for clients who might otherwise struggle to access regular in-person therapy due to work schedules, childcare responsibilities, or trauma-related avoidance behaviors. Our internal data shows that 68% of clients who opted for teletherapy reported high satisfaction with the online format.
It’s important to note that trauma therapy can be challenging and may initially cause some discomfort as clients confront traumatic memories and emotions. However, our therapists are skilled in creating a safe, supportive environment and in pacing the therapy to ensure it remains manageable and effective. The duration of trauma therapy can vary widely depending on the nature and severity of the trauma, but many clients see significant improvements within 12-20 sessions.
At Crown Counseling, we’re committed to providing compassionate, effective trauma therapy to help Brooklyn residents heal and thrive. Whether you’re dealing with a single traumatic event or complex, long-standing trauma, our team is here to support your journey towards healing, resilience, and improved quality of life.
References:
- Cusack, K., Jonas, D. E., Forneris, C. A., Wines, C., Sonis, J., Middleton, J. C., … & Gaynes, B. N. (2016). Psychological treatments for adults with posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 43, 128-141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.10.003
- Lenz, A. S., Haktanir, A., & Callender, K. (2017). Meta-analysis of trauma-focused therapies for treating the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Counseling & Development, 95(3), 339-353. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12148
We are in network with..
Aetna, Cigna, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, Healthfirst, Affinity Health, Oxford Health, Metroplus Health, Fidelis Care, and 1199 SEIU.
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