Trauma

Traumatic experiences cause psychological distress.

Traumatic experiences can overwhelm us and make it difficult to cope. Trauma in childhood can impact on all aspects of development and the results can be felt throughout childhood and into adult life. Sometimes, childhood trauma can lead to dissociative disorders or other difficulties which might lead to a mental health diagnosis.

Traumatic experiences in childhood can include: physical abuse, bullying, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, accidents, medical operations, loss of loved ones through death or divorce, serious threat of loss of a loved one. For some children, difficulties result from one-off, sudden trauma such as a road accident; for others, the trauma may be cumulative, such as in persistent bullying or when a child regularly witnesses domestic violence.

Trauma in adult life can be experienced in abusive relationships, through being a victim of crime, through accidents or through the loss or threat of loss of a loved one in distressing circumstances. As with children, the trauma may be sudden or cumulative. Trauma in childhood or in adult life can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Psychotherapy and EMDR, either separately or in combination, are effective ways of working through traumatic events and enabling a person to live a fuller and more satisfying life.