Our Services / Trauma
Facing Trauma with the Right Support
Trauma is our body and brain’s response to a deeply distressing event (or events) that overwhelms our ability to cope. When we experience trauma, our brain shifts into survival mode. When life hits hard with trauma, it’s like carrying a weight that just won’t lift. That’s where a trauma psychologist and online therapy come in. They’re your guide through the tough terrain of past experiences, helping you find your way back to feeling more like yourself.
At The Indigo Project, we do not solely focus on people’s problems, instead we aim to meet people where they are at. We understand and consider the pervasive nature of trauma and create environments of healing and recovery.
Why Choose an Indigo Trauma Psychologist?
No matter what type of trauma you experience, it is understood that these experiences can have longstanding impacts on our lives. Many people experience symptoms such as: depression, anxiety and panic, difficulty establishing and maintaining close or intimate relationships, sexual dysfunctions, eating disorders, compulsions, addictions, self-harm or other emotional issues including chronic feelings of emptiness, loss of touch with reality, extreme mood fluctuations or anger outbursts.
A lot of information exists out there, so we’ve condensed some of it. Read through more below on key themes on trauma and how it relates to online therapy.
- Expert Guidance: Navigate your trauma with someone who gets it and meets you where you are.
- Personalised Approach: Every experience of trauma is different, and your therapy should be too.
- Safe Space: Online trauma counselling offers a secure place to open up.
- Perfect Match Promise: If you don’t gel with your psychologist after the first or second session, we’ll rematch you and cover the cost of your next appointment (T&Cs apply).
Read More
Let’s break down Trauma some more:
Trauma-Informed Care
In online counselling for trauma, many of our therapists practise trauma-informed care. Some of the principles that underlie this include:
- Trauma awareness
- Promoting safety
- Rebuilding a sense of control
- Developing connection and trust
- Focusing on strengths and resources
- Maintaining a belief in recovery
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
PTSD can develop in people who have experienced a traumatic event which threatened their life or safety, or that of others around them. People with PTSD experience 4 main types of difficulties:
- Reliving the trauma event e.g., flashbacks, nightmares, vivid memories
- Being hypervigilant aka overly alert e.g., sleep difficulties, irritability and becoming easily startled
- Avoiding reminders of the traumatic event e.g., avoiding activities, places, people, or thoughts/feelings related to the event
- Feeling emotionally numb and disconnected from reality e.g., losing interest in daily life, detached from friends, family and ourselves
If you’ve been experiencing these problems continuously for 1+ months, and its caused significant challenges in your ability to function and interact with others, we encourage you to seek professional help and/or a diagnosis.
Post-traumatic growth (PTG)
Research shows that most people who experience trauma, also experience PTG.
PTG is a positive psychological change that is experienced after struggling with highly challenges and distressing circumstances. It involves a life-changing psychological shift in thinking and relating to the world and ourselves.
7 areas of growth that can spring from adversity:
- Greater appreciation of life
- Strengthening of close relationships
- Increased compassion and altruism
- Recognising new meanings or purpose in life
- Great awareness and use of personal strengths
- Enhanced spiritual development
- Creative growth
“In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning” – Viktor Frankl, Man’s search for meaning
Treatment
You don’t have to try and handle the burden of trauma alone. It might feel like you will never get your life back, but our qualified therapists are here to help you regain a sense of control over your life.
The primary treatment is psychotherapy, but medication can also be used alongside (just check in with your GP). Combining these treatments can help improve symptoms by:
- Teaching you skills to address your symptoms and ways to cope when they arise
- Helping you reframe your thinking about yourself, others and the world
- Empowering you to take control of the direction of your life by leaning into your resources and strengths
Window of Tolerance
The Window of tolerance is a term used to describe the zone of optimal arousal in which a person can function most effectively. Basically, when we are in this zone, we can readily receive, process, and integrate information as well as respond to the demands of everyday life fairly easily – how good.
Trauma can push ourselves above or below this optimal zone.
Hyper-arousal: AKA ‘fight or flight’ response. We feel anxious, overwhelmed, and alert. We may react with anger or aggression and battle intrusive thoughts. It can be extremely difficult to rest, sleep or digest as we feel constantly “on”
Example activities to decrease arousal:
- Using a weighted blanket
- Shaking or stomping our nervous energy
- Music (soothing and calming sounds)
- Diaphragmatic breathing
- Jumping on a trampoline
- Heavy work: lifting, pulling, pushups, situps etc
Hypo-arousal: AKA ‘freeze or fawn’ response. We feel disconnected from the present and from others, dissociate – sometimes having no memory of what’s happening. We can withdraw, shut down and feel separate from our own bodies as we feel constantly “off”
Example activities to increase arousal:
- Anything that stimulates the senses
- Smelling scented candles, essential oils or perfume (ps. Smell is the fastest way back to the thinking brain)
- Movement of any kind
- Dancing
- Finger painting
- Eat comfort food
Reading recommendation: The body keeps the score – Bessel van der Kolk
