CBT
for
Trauma
Life can, sometimes, throw shocking events our way. If an event involves a person being exposed to actual or threatened death, serious injury, physical, emotional, or sexual violence, then such an event is regarded by clinical psychologists as a traumatic event, or ‘trauma’. Experiences like these may involve a single traumatic event, or they may be repeated and/or prolonged traumatic experiences.
for PARENTS
Psychonline4u offers training to parents whose young child, or adolescent, is
struggling with anxiety, but who is not willing to engage directly with a therapist. In
that case, we offer our therapy indirectly, by enlisting the parents as ‘co-therapists’ for
their child.
Symptoms of traumatic experiences
Many people who have been exposed to traumatic events manage to cope reasonably well with them, and eventually ‘get over’ them. This is more so the case with ‘once off’, single traumatic events (such as a serious traffic accident, physical or sexual assault, the sudden death of a loved one, distressing medical intervention, some natural disaster, as well as ‘near misses’ of all such events).
On the other hand, people who have suffered repeated and prolonged traumatic experiences, as is the case with emotional and/or physical, and/or sexual abuse, are less likely to simply ‘get over’ these damaging experiences, and recover fully, without proper treatment.However, even a single traumatic event can result in a person developing distressing symptoms that are clearly related to their traumatic experience.
Often this involves one or more of the following: recurrent distressing memories of the traumatic event(s); recurrent distressing dreams (nightmares) that are related to the traumatic event(s); feeling or acting as if the traumatic event is ‘happening all over again’ (so-called ‘flashbacks’); avoidance of persons, objects or situations that are associated with the traumatic event(s); heightened arousal (in the form irritable behaviour and angry outbursts, being constantly ‘on the look-out’ for possible danger or threat, being easily startled, poor concentration and disturbed sleep).
This pattern of symptoms is known as a ‘posttraumatic stress disorder’ (PTSD). In addition, symptoms of other mental health problems, notably of anxiety and depression, may also develop, in the aftermath of trauma.
Symptoms of traumatic experiences
Many people who have been exposed to traumatic events manage to cope reasonably well with them, and eventually ‘get over’ them. This is more so the case with ‘once off’, single traumatic events (such as a serious traffic accident, physical or sexual assault, the sudden death of a loved one, distressing medical intervention, some natural disaster, as well as ‘near misses’ of all such events). However, even a single traumatic event can result in a person developing distressing symptoms that are clearly related to their traumatic experience.
And, people who have suffered repeated and prolonged traumatic experiences, as is the case with emotional and/or physical, and/or sexual abuse, are certainly less likely to simply ‘get over’ these damaging experiences, and recover fully, without proper treatment.
Symptons of trauma involves one or more of the following: recurrent distressing memories of the traumatic event(s); recurrent distressing dreams (nightmares) that are related to the traumatic event(s); feeling or acting as if the traumatic event is ‘happening all over again’ (so-called ‘flashbacks’); avoidance of persons, objects or situations that are associated with the traumatic event(s); heightened arousal (in the form irritable behaviour and angry outbursts, being constantly ‘on the look-out’ for possible danger or threat, being easily startled, poor concentration and disturbed sleep).
This pattern of symptoms is known as a ‘posttraumatic stress disorder’ (PTSD). In addition, symptoms of other mental health problems, notably of anxiety and depression, may also develop, in the aftermath of trauma.
Breaking the vicious circle
Can PsychOnline4u help you recover from a traumatic experience? Yes, in many cases we can. In recent decades, several methods, based on CBT, have been developed to treat the symptoms of PTSD, and of traumatic experiences in general. One of these is known as Prolonged Exposure Therpy, abbreviated as PET.
Another, often highly effective treatment for trauma is a method known as Eye Movement- Desensitization and Reprocessing, abbreviated as EMDR. PsychOnline4u can offer both PET and EMDR to help people recover from a traumatic experience and reclaim their mental health.
And, we do so online, in live treatment sessions with an experienced psychologist, who has been trained in CBT, EMDR, and PET. In other words, you can do your trauma therapy in the privacy of your own home, with all the practical advantages that has to offer!
Breaking the vicious circle
Can PsychOnline4u help you recover from a traumatic experience? Yes, in many cases we can. In recent decades, several methods, based on CBT, have been developed to treat the symptoms of PTSD, and of traumatic experiences in general. One of these is known as EMDR (Eye Movement- Desensitization and Reprocessing).
Another, often highly effective treatment for trauma is a method known as PET (Prolonged Exposure Therapy). PsychOnline4u can offer either PET or EMDR to help people recover from a traumatic experience and reclaim their mental health.
You do your trauma therapy in live online sessions with an experienced psychologist, who has been trained in CBT, EMDR, and PET. And you do so from the comfort and privacy of your own home, with all the practical advantages that has to offer!
Overcome trauma
To learn more about trauma, and about how PsychOnline4u uses online guided CBT to help people break the vicious circle of their trauma, so that they can bounce back to mental health, you can request our free e-book ‘Overcome Trauma’.
Overcome trauma
To learn more about trauma, and about how PsychOnline4u can help you break the vicious circle of trauma, so that you can bounce back to good mental health, you can request our free e-book ‘Overcome Trauma’.
CBT FOR HELPING YOUR ANXIOUS KID OR TEEN
Are you the parent of a child, or teen, who is struggling with anxiety, but who is not motivated, or not willing to engage in therapy? If so, PsychOnline4u can help, using parent training, based on CBT.
Parenting a young child, or teenager, who is struggling with anxiety, can be challenging enough. In this situation, parents often find themselves wrestling with certain questions, such as: when they should go along with their kid’s, or teen’s, tendency to avoid, or withdraw from, those situations that they have difficulty dealing with? And, when should they encourage them to face those difficult situations, with which all kids and teens must learn to deal?
Other important questions that parents may ask themselves are: how to give sufficient emotional support to their kid or teen, while at the same time stimulating their independence? And, how to limit the impact that their child’s anxiety (and resulting avoidance) is having on other members of the family, and on the family as a whole?
However, this challenge can become even more daunting for parents when their child or teenager is unwilling, or unmotivated, to engage in therapy for their anxiety problem. At Psychonline4u we offer a proven-effective therapy, based on CBT, that focuses, not on anxious kids or teens, but exclusively on their parents! In this therapy, parents learn how to alleviate their child’s anxiety, by changing the way they themselves respond to their anxious symptoms and related avoidance behaviours. Importantly, parents are not required to impose changes on their kid’s or teen’s behaviour. Instead, they are shown how to first identify their own, so-called ‘accommodating behaviours’.
These are behaviours by which parents may, without realising it, be ‘allowing’ their kid’s or teen’s anxiety to ‘flourish’. Parents learn how to replace their accommodating behaviours with supportive behaviours, that is, with responses that demonstrate both acceptance of their child’s emotional difficulties, and confidence in their ability to cope with those situations that they find challenging. d
This unique approach differs from other therapies for anxious kids and teens, by enlisting you, the parent(s) as ‘co-therapist(s)’ in your child’s therapy. You will learn how to talk with your anxious kid/teen, how to avoid common traps and pitfalls, such as being overly protective, or overly demanding, and how to identify the ways in which you, as a parent, by your ‘accommodating behaviours’, may have been enabling your child’s anxious behaviours, without you realising it!
Finally, if your child or teen does, eventually, become more open to the idea of they themselves engaging directly with a therapist, then you can discuss this with us. We will gladly offer you and your child a free consultation to discuss this together.
FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION
If you are wondering whether our online support, using either PET or EMDR, might be a suitable approach for your particular problems of trauma, you can request a (once-off) free 15 minute online consultation (by voice or video, whichever you prefer) to discuss this, as well as any other specific queries you may have. Once again, you can do so by using either the contact form, or the email address, on the website.
TIP: But, before you request our free 15 minute consultation, we think it would probably be handy if you first read the information in our free e-book ‘CBT for Trauma’. That way, you can make your queries more specific.
Finally: the scope of guided CBT for reducing mental health problems such as the symptoms of mild to moderate anxiety disorders, depression, or trauma, is obvious. Research has shown that self-help resources, based on CBT, can be effective in tackling these problems, and even more so when these resources are combined with support from a professional trained in CBT.
However, some people struggle with severe levels of these psychological problems. In those cases, guided CBT will not be adequate in addressing their mental health needs. More intensive forms of treatment will usually be required, of the kind provided in regular face-to-face therapy!
That’s why we, at PsychOnline4u, first do an initial assessment: to identify both the nature and severity of a person’s mental health problem, so that we can decide whether our guided CBT would be sufficient, or whether more intensive treatment is required. If our assessment indicates that the latter is indeed the case, then we will discuss this with the person in question, and advise them to seek more intensive treatment.
And we will do this, as much as possible, in close cooperation with their GP. This is explained in more detail on the website, in the information about Assessment, and also in our Terms and Conditions.
