How Trauma Damages Your Everyday Life

In your everyday life, whenever your mind begins to drift towards a traumatic memory or you experience something that reminds you of that trauma, you have a reaction. For instance, your guard may immediately go up, your heart rate and breathing get faster, and you begin to perspire.

You are having this reaction because your mind believes that you are in danger, and it is taking steps to protect you and itself from harm. This is very stressful and interferes with your life. To cope, you may even have turned to alcohol or drug use to cope with these feelings. Of course, that doesn’t help.

What is Exposure Therapy?

Exposure therapy involves allowing you to experience sights, sounds, even thoughts that are related to a traumatic event (or events) in a controlled and intentional way. The idea is that, by exposing yourself to these triggering events and then discussing what you feel with a therapist, you can gain some closure and ultimately see a resolution to your symptoms.

How Does Exposure Therapy for PTSD Help?

When it comes to PTSD, exposure therapy can teach your brain that you are OK and no longer in danger.

This is really why you are experiencing trauma symptoms. Your brain still believes that you are at risk for harm, even though the danger is long past. In that way, PTSD can keep you fixed in time, expecting the next danger to appear.

Moreover, because the memories associated with the trauma and the feelings and stress of PTSD are so great, you may try to avoid triggering situations as much as possible. This also keeps you stuck and unable to move forward with your life.

How Does Exposure Therapy Work?

Treatment using exposure therapy for PTSD can take about three months. You participate in individual sessions with a trained practitioner. And during these sessions, you discuss with your therapist or counselor what happened and explain the emotions that you are feeling.

While in treatment, you are guided to reflect on memories that remind you or are connected to the trauma you experienced. This is called Imaginal Exposure therapy.

Another form of exposure therapy is called In Vivo therapy. In this type of therapy, you interact with objects that remind you of your traumatic experience but that are not really dangerous.

Can Exposure Therapy for PTSD Help?

Yes! Although there are no guarantees, exposure therapy can help with reducing and even eliminating PTSD symptoms. Perhaps the greatest reason for this is that the process creates closure and allows your brain to realize that it is no longer in danger.

Also, as part of the exposure therapy process, you learn tools to better stay in control when you begin to feel the anxiety and stress of PTSD affect you.

Who Can Help Me with Exposure Therapy?

A trained therapist who is experienced in treating trauma victims can implement exposure therapy for PTSD. Having a knowledgeable guide through this process is very helpful. They can provide context for why you are experiencing symptoms and help you better understand what is happening. This is particularly comforting when you must once again face those memories or triggers which can be so debilitating.

Remember, your trauma does not have to be a burden that you carry for the rest of your life. By participating in exposure therapy for PTSD with a qualified therapist, you can address what happened and teach your mind that the danger is long past.