Trauma Therapy
A trauma is anything that occurs in our lives that results in overwhelming feelings and altered beliefs about ourselves, others, or the world. Some traumas are obvious, such as sexual or physical abuse, while others are more ambiguous, like emotional neglect or verbal abuse. In addition, when we are young, even seemingly benign events can be traumatizing because of a child's limited perspective that leads to internalization of difficult or even “normal” situations as being a product of our own deficiencies. If you are struggling with low self-esteem, are having emotional reactions that feel out of proportion to current events and/or if you find yourself repeating self-defeating patterns in your job or relationships that you don't seem to be able to control, you may be having a "trauma reaction" to unprocessed psychological material. Trauma therapy involves using principles of neuroscience to help you integrate a trauma into your life narrative instead of feeling dominated by it. This type of therapy can help to get you “unstuck” from limiting patterns and beliefs, allowing more adaptive ways of relating to self and others to emerge.
EMDR
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a particularly effective form of trauma therapy that uses bilateral stimulation to activate and reprocess information more quickly than standard talk therapy. Bilateral stimulation is a technique in which the left and right side of the brain are stimulated in an alternating fashion to help the brain process trauma by mimicking its natural processing mechanisms - the back and forth eye movements that occur in REM sleep. This results in deep emotional change, sometimes in just a few processing sessions. There are many ways to do bilateral stimulation and Dr. Ferguson can work with you to select the method that feels most comfortable to you.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a particularly effective form of trauma therapy that uses bilateral stimulation to activate and reprocess information more quickly than standard talk therapy. Bilateral stimulation is a technique in which the left and right side of the brain are stimulated in an alternating fashion to help the brain process trauma by mimicking its natural processing mechanisms - the back and forth eye movements that occur in REM sleep. This results in deep emotional change, sometimes in just a few processing sessions. There are many ways to do bilateral stimulation and Dr. Ferguson can work with you to select the method that feels most comfortable to you.
Other Important Trauma Work Modalities
Other forms of trauma therapy that are often used are:
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) - CPT is similar to EMDR in that it focuses on exposure to traumatic material to reduce reactivity and also examines how beliefs about self, others and the world have been affected by your experiences. The biggest differences between CPT and EMDR is that CPT does not use bilateral stimulation during processing. Both have been found to be effective in the PTSD treatment literature.
Somatic Experiencing Therapy (SE) - Somatic Experiencing (SE) is an approach that focuses on body sensations to help process material that is stored on a cellular level, therefore affecting behavior automatically. SE uses the information gleaned from body sensations to help a client express action tendencies that had to be repressed at the time of the trauma, thus allowing the brain to get "unstuck" and move forward. SE is often integrated into both CPT and EMDR and is rarely used as a stand-alone approach.
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) - Part of a more general class of therapies called "ego states therapy," IFS uses techniques that help us to resolve internal conflicts and negative self-beliefs through imaginal dialogue between parts of the self. This strategy can help us to understand and resolve extreme symptoms, become more responsive to meeting our own needs, heal our trauma wounds, and build more self-love. Clients often describe these interventions as the most powerfully healing part of the trauma work process.
Polyvagal Theory - This theory describes the ways in which the autonomic nervous system regulates the dynamic relationship between our sympathetic ("fight or flight") and parasympathetic ("rest and digest") responses. When a person has undergone trauma, their nervous system can get caught in a perpetual "fight or flight" response that can make everyday events and people we love feel unsafe. Polyvagal theory has identified many ways, big and small, that we can bring conscious control to noticing, understanding and regulating these reactions by "speaking the language" that our nervous system understands.
It is completely up to the client which approach (or combination of approaches) they would like to use to help them process their trauma. Dr. Ferguson will always discuss your options in detail with you and engage you in a collaborative treatment planning discussion. Most clients use a variety of approaches to address and integrate their traumas.
Other forms of trauma therapy that are often used are:
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) - CPT is similar to EMDR in that it focuses on exposure to traumatic material to reduce reactivity and also examines how beliefs about self, others and the world have been affected by your experiences. The biggest differences between CPT and EMDR is that CPT does not use bilateral stimulation during processing. Both have been found to be effective in the PTSD treatment literature.
Somatic Experiencing Therapy (SE) - Somatic Experiencing (SE) is an approach that focuses on body sensations to help process material that is stored on a cellular level, therefore affecting behavior automatically. SE uses the information gleaned from body sensations to help a client express action tendencies that had to be repressed at the time of the trauma, thus allowing the brain to get "unstuck" and move forward. SE is often integrated into both CPT and EMDR and is rarely used as a stand-alone approach.
Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) - Part of a more general class of therapies called "ego states therapy," IFS uses techniques that help us to resolve internal conflicts and negative self-beliefs through imaginal dialogue between parts of the self. This strategy can help us to understand and resolve extreme symptoms, become more responsive to meeting our own needs, heal our trauma wounds, and build more self-love. Clients often describe these interventions as the most powerfully healing part of the trauma work process.
Polyvagal Theory - This theory describes the ways in which the autonomic nervous system regulates the dynamic relationship between our sympathetic ("fight or flight") and parasympathetic ("rest and digest") responses. When a person has undergone trauma, their nervous system can get caught in a perpetual "fight or flight" response that can make everyday events and people we love feel unsafe. Polyvagal theory has identified many ways, big and small, that we can bring conscious control to noticing, understanding and regulating these reactions by "speaking the language" that our nervous system understands.
It is completely up to the client which approach (or combination of approaches) they would like to use to help them process their trauma. Dr. Ferguson will always discuss your options in detail with you and engage you in a collaborative treatment planning discussion. Most clients use a variety of approaches to address and integrate their traumas.