California Trauma Therapy
At Restoration Recovery Center, we believe that unprocessed trauma can be a risk factor and contribute to addiction. Because of this, our California rehab programs offer trauma therapy.
Trauma can affect all ages, gender, race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Research has found that trauma is commonly linked to substance use disorders and that Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is highly comorbid with drug and alcohol addiction. Read on to learn more about trauma and types of trauma therapy in addiction rehab programs.
What is Trauma?
Trauma is a circumstance or event that results in exposure to physical harm, emotional harm, and/or life-threatening harm. Experiencing threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence are all traumatic scenarios.
Witnessing serious harm in-person occurring to someone else or learning about serious harm occurring to a close friend or family member can also lead to experiencing trauma.
Trauma and the Brain
Trauma can have lasting adverse effects on the brain and can change:
- Physical health.
- Mental health.
- Social well-being.
- Emotional health.
- Spiritual well-being.
Traumatic stress has been found to increase cortisol and norepinephrine responses to future stressors. Areas of the brain affected by trauma include:
- The amygdala.
- The hippocampus.
- The prefrontal cortex.
For some, experiencing a traumatic event can turn into a mental disorder, also known as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Signs and Symptoms of PTSD
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration defines posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as “an exaggerated fear response that occurs following exposure to one or more extremely upsetting events. Such events can include but are not limited to, war, terrorist attacks, threatened or actual physical or sexual violence, being kidnapped, natural and man-made disasters, and serious motor vehicle accidents”
Symptoms of PTSD include but are not limited to:
- Recurrent dreams or nightmares.
- Flashbacks.
- Distressing memories.
- Persistent re-experiencing the trauma.
- Avoiding people, places, events, and objects that remind the person of the trauma.
- Memory loss.
- Self-blame.
- Inability to experience positive emotions.
- Guilt.
- Hopelessness.
- Easily startled.
- Irritable.
- Angry.
- Feeling “jumpy” or “on edge”.
- Unable to concentrate.
What is Trauma Therapy?
There is a strong association between trauma and substance misuse. Among people with PTSD, lifetime rates of also having a substance use disorder are estimated to be between 36% and 52%. Dual Diagnosis disorders and PTSD are associated with worse treatment outcomes.
Treating trauma and substance use disorders together in an integrated approach that addresses both disorders simultaneously is currently the preferred method of treatment. As a response to the strong empirical support for treating trauma and addiction together, Restoration Recovery Center offers trauma therapy alongside other behavioral therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).
Types of Trauma Therapy in California
Types of trauma therapy include:
Cognitive processing trauma therapy in California:
CPT is a 12-week course of treatment, with weekly sessions of 60-90 minutes. At first, you’ll talk about the traumatic event with your therapist and how your thoughts related to it have affected your life. Then you’ll write in detail about what happened. This process helps you examine how you think about your trauma and figure out new ways to live with it.
For example, maybe you’ve been blaming yourself for something. Your therapist will help you take into account all the things that were beyond your control, so you can move forward, understanding and accepting that, deep down, it wasn’t your fault, despite things you did or didn’t do.
Prolonged Exposure trauma therapy in California:
Prolonged exposure is a specific type of cognitive behavioral trauma therapy in California that teaches individuals to gradually approach trauma-related memories, feelings and situations. By facing what has been avoided, a person presumably learns that the trauma-related memories and cues are not dangerous and do not need to be avoided.
Typically provided over a period of about three months with weekly individual sessions at the Addiction Recovery Center in Auburn California. Sixty- to 120-minute sessions are usually needed in order for the individual to engage in exposure and sufficiently process the experience.
EMDR trauma therapy in California:
EMDR trauma therapy in California has been endorsed by the American Psychiatric Association and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. In addition, it is used by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense and overseas organizations, including the United Kingdom Department of Health and the Israeli National Council for Mental Health.
According to the EMDR Research Foundation, there are now over 30 gold-standard studies documenting the effectiveness of EMDR therapy over the past 30 years with problems such as rape and sexual abuse, combat trauma, childhood trauma and neglect, life-threatening accidents, and symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.
Long-Term Effects of Trauma Therapy
Research has found that trauma-focused therapy with substance use disorder treatment was effective at reducing PTSD severity and substance use at 5 and 7 months following disorder treatment. However, more research needs to go into looking at how trauma therapy affects recovery long-term.
Find Trauma Therapy in California Today
If you or someone you love have suffered a trauma and are struggling with a substance use disorder, Restoration Recovery Center’s drug and alcohol rehab in California may be a good fit for you. Reach out to us below to learn more about how to start treatment today or verify your insurance now!