Trauma is an unfortunate experience that many people live through. It can be experienced at any point in life and stay with a person for years. If left unaddressed, unresolved trauma can influence a person’s behavior, mindset, and confidence levels, affecting them in ways they may not even realize. To address this, Legacy Healing Center Parsippany offers options for trauma therapy near New York that can help patients come to terms with what has happened and move forward once and for all.

The Relationship Between Trauma and Addiction

A traumatic event can potentially shape multiple parts of a person’s existence. Whether the event was faced as a child or in adulthood, it can drastically alter a person’s ability to interact with the people and world around them.

The 3 types of trauma are:

• Acute Trauma – This is typically caused by a single distressing event. It can include a physical or sexual assault, a devastating accident, or even a natural disaster.
• Chronic Trauma – After a person lives through several traumatic events over an extended period, this type of trauma can occur. These events can include situations like bullying, domestic violence, or chronic illness.
• Complex Trauma – Instances of familial trauma, childhood abuse, or domestic violence can result in a complex collection of trauma responses and mindsets. This can make it hard for someone suffering to maintain healthy relationships.

Trauma centers around the brain’s attempts to adjust to what is presented to it. Every experience that a person lives through plays a part in brain development and functions, so when one of these occurrences causes great or continual distress, people may turn to alternative methods to cope.

One such method is self-medication with drugs or alcohol. While taking a pill or drinking alcohol may seem like an easy fix to the troubling symptoms, the reality is that many substances can lead to the development of tolerance. This means that the user will need more of the drug each time they use it to produce the same effects. This is the incredibly slippery slope that can lead a person down the dark path of addiction.

Trauma Therapy Techniques

For those struggling with addiction and trauma, there are methods that can be employed to help patients come to terms with past events and adopt healthy coping strategies moving forward.

Techniques used to treat trauma can include:

• Impact Statement – It can be incredibly helpful to write the impact of the experiences in question with pen and paper. This allows patients to isolate the thoughts and memories that affect them.
• Imaginal Exposure – This is when the therapist aids the patient in imagining the trauma that they lived through as a means of confronting memories and thoughts that have previously been avoided.
• Cognitive Restructuring Strategies – This practice focuses on aiding patients to alter unhelpful thought patterns and turn them into more beneficial ones.

Legacy Healing’s rehab utilizes trauma therapy to help people recover from experiences and mindsets that contribute to their addictions. It is a crucial step in addiction treatment and can be utilized throughout each level of care that we offer.

For more information on the options offered for trauma therapy near New York, contact Legacy Healing Center and speak with one of our intake specialists today.

Related Reading

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Its Impact on Substance Abuse

9 Trauma Therapies That Treat the Roots of Addiction