Marie Curran
Counselling and Psychotherapy Services
B.Sc., H. Dip Ed., H. Dip Counselling, Adv Dip. Psychotherapy Supervision, Certified NLP Practitioner, Certified CISM, Accredited Supervisor, MIACP.
'The body remembers what the mind wants to forget.'
Many people experience a critical incident or a traumatic event at some stage in their life.
A critical incident is a relatively sudden, unexpected and overwhelming event which is outside the range of usual human experience.
Examples may include being involved in an accident, being mugged, assaulted, raped or being witness to the murder or injury of another person being subjected to sustained forms of physical, psychological or sexual abuse.
Worldwide traumatic events include war, floods, plane crashes, tsunamis and other such disasters.
Sometimes a trauma may be experienced vicariously or indirectly - as a bystander or witness to an event or where friends or family are victims.
When we experience a threatening event our bodies automatically respond in a way that is geared to protect us.
The fight, flight or freeze response of the body is as unique as the human individual. It is a response of the autonomic nervous system and hence not of our doing or choice.
It is however reassuring to know that this psycho-physiological response of the body - which can range from the unpleasant to the severe with the potential to interfere with ones level of functioning - is a normal reaction to an abnormal event.
Common response to the stress of critical incidents or traumatic events may affect all areas of ones life - the emotional, behavioural, physical and spiritual.
Symptoms are myriad, and may include:
Physical symptoms may range from headaches, fatigue - frequently due to disturbed sleep - to chest pains and other conditions which may require medical attention.
Trauma is resolved when the effects of the event are no longer causing upset or triggering outbursts of unprovoked emotions, flashbacks or intrusive thoughts.
About 70% of people who experience traumatic events are able to process and resolve the experience without any long-term deleterious effects. They can recall and make sense of what happened to them and regain normal healthy coping skills.
For the remaining 30% there is emerging evidence that prompt remedial treatment, as in trauma counselling, does reduce distress and increases the quality of life of the sufferer.
Treatment of trauma or the effects of sustained emotional upset is based on the intricate connection between the brain and the body - the psycho-physiological cycle.
Behaviour is made up of four elements. These elements are intrinsically connected and occur at the same time !!
Thought - Emotion - Behaviour (Action) - Body Sensation
If I have the
Thought that someone is going to strike me
Behaviour I duck or get out of the way
Sensation I experience a tightness in my chest / clammy hands
Emotion I feel frightened.
A traumatic experience or a critical incident may trigger an exaggerated response from any point on the cycle. This in turn triggers a response from all the other links. This over-reactive system is responsible for the increase in anxiety and sense of panic frequently occurring after highly emotionally charged experiences.
The focus of any treatment is to help sufferers to regain emotional control and stability in their lives and to return to a state of healthy functioning. Because of this Psycho-Emotional-Physiological inter-connection, treatment of trauma, shock, anxiety and panic will focus on relaxation and body awareness-techniques, as well as cognitive constructs. Trauma counselling may, but not always, involve some memory recall of the traumatic event as well as flashback and panic protocols. This form of counselling is un-intrusive and generally effective and short-term.
Because the experience of trauma is unique to the individual, the approach to helping the sufferer is also unique to them. Hence the need to seek support from a trained and experienced practitioner.