Working with trauma

I’ve noticed one shared experience my clients have in common, which is at some point whether aware or unaware they’ve experienced big or even a small number of trauma’s growing up. Sometimes the consequence of such traumas are that they can linger throughout our lives and continue to affect our mood and behaviour. Such unresolved traumas can trigger anxiety, depression, chronic emptiness, to name a many few. When traumatic memories have not been stored in a healthy way this process has been referred to as maladaptive memory.

The best way I can describe maladaptive memory is if you imagine a teenager who has worn the same underwear for a week, and instead of throwing his underwear in the washing machine he decides to throw it under the bed…yuck…because the teen has not dealt with this issue effectively, bacteria starts to grow and other issues start to arise including a big almighty stink…

Through therapy these memories can be taken out from under the bed, looked at, cleaned up, folded up and stored neatly and tidily away *Sigh of relief*. One such therapy that I have used over the last couple of years with large success in supporting people in overcoming past traumas is called EMDR therapy (Eye Movement desensitization and Reprocessing). A video example can be found below. If EMDR therapy is something that you feel might beneficial to you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

paul.agar@sagepsyhotherapy.co.uk