31 Jan Recovering from Trauma and Abuse
Experiences of abuse and violence have the potential of creating doubts and disqualify a person’s own beliefs about who s/he is as a person and of their capabilities. It increases guilt, shame and sense of worthlessness. It creates vulnerability for people to more easily get recruited into negative stories about their identity.
Trauma affects the capacity to recall and integrate the fullness of experiences encompassing sensations, images, behaviour, emotions and meaning making. It can bring about a disconnection between different aspects of self. Although some trauma memories may not be remembered, they may be sensed or felt in the body as sensations, as somatic pain; as skin rashes/eczema or affect body co-ordination; hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli such visual, auditory, smell, taste.
When trauma memories get triggered there is the potential of the trauma getting replayed in ‘the -here-and now’ in people’s lives bringing about a fragmentation of self at that point. Trauma experiences affect personal and intimate relationships; affects mental, emotional, psychological, physiological and social health.
There may be historic and current multiple, single and/or recurring experiences of trauma, with implications on children, young people and adults mental health and quality of life. Some implications might be:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Adjustment difficulties
- Peri-natal & Postnatal Depression
- Difficulties with anger expressions
- Dissociation
- Sexual problems
- Physiological/somatic pain
- Post-trauma stress reactions
- Mental disorders not otherwise specified
- Relationship difficulties
Angela is an experienced trauma therapist who has expertise working with the neurobiological and psychosocial effects of trauma on the developing brain and functional aspects of peoples’ lives. Angela supports people with the management of effects of trauma on the body, the emotions, on the psychological, social, spiritual and relational area of peoples’ lives. Angela has worked with victims of crime ranging from burglaries to homicide; she has worked with people’s experiences of domestic violence and sexual assaults. More recently, she works with current and historic effects of various experiences of violence, abuse and trauma with children, young people and adults.
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