April 13, 2019

Importance of an Empathetic Therapist for Chronic Traumatization

Finding a compassionate and empathetic therapist is a must to heal from trauma.

Vets, if we do not develop a connection with our therapist, it’s unlikely we will keep our appointments. If missing an appointment call to cancel, and reschedule, so another vet can take your place.

There is no time frame in healing from war trauma.

We may feel an urgent need to purge, or have a sense of never being able to talk about our experiences. Similar to running distances we need to pace ourselves in therapy so we do not retraumatize ourselves, and return to our old coping habits.

It might take a couple of therapists to find the right one, so it’s important to keep appointments even if your not feeling secure in sharing. If after three or four visits, a rapport is not developed with your mental health practitioner, ask for a Change of Provider form at the counter.

To increase the likelihood of approval, write lack of rapport or connection, and do not feel they can help. It may take up to three months to see another therapist.

Remember, your mental health is important. Keep your appointments, and find the right person to guide you through the process. An empathetic therapist is paramount to healing from trauma.

Our emotional and spiritual centers are damaged, to find our way through the wreckage of our minds, we need a guiding hand. A ‘therapeutic window’ is an empathetic connection between the therapist and client, enabling a safe place for exploration of traumatic memories and events.

Traumatic events shape our lives, and alter the way we process information. Especially chronic traumatization, our symptoms mimic depression, bi-polar disorder, and personality disorders. We can be misdiagnosed by a less knowledgeable and skilled practitioner.

Veterans with chronic trauma need an empathetic practitioner, knowledgeable in the latest treatment modalities to take our emotional hand and guide us through the wreckage of our minds.
It is helpful for therapists to understand the implications of structural dissociation as an undue division of the personality, how it manifests, and how it must be treated. They should strive to understand the importance not only for psychodynamic, relational and behavioral aspects of treatment, but also become proficient in assessing and working with the mental energy and mental levels of patients. Therapists need to analyze survivors’ mental and behavioral actions for adaptively. (The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the Treatment of Chronic Traumatization, van der Hart, Nijenhuis and Steele).
The dissociative features of chronic trauma have a distinct set of emotional states we cycle through distinct from the others, the common symptom such as anger and rage to the less talked about emotional numbing to the different personas that can emerge from trauma states.

2 comments:

  1. This is very well put. Thanks for sharing. I have written a lot on this too at patiencepress.com.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for responding. I am starting back to writing. If interested, I would love to invite you to publish new and old articles here.

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