If a recent coronavirus diagnosis has turned your world upside down and left you feeling worried, anxious, or afraid, it’s alright. In fact, the way you are feeling is completely understandable and may even be a reaction to psychological trauma. And here’s why.
In general terms, trauma is defined as a highly stressful or potentially life-threatening event that happens suddenly and without warning. Trauma leaves you feeling alone, unsafe, and distrustful of the world. The effects of such an experience can be long-lasting and severe and can leave you feeling socially isolated, numb, or overwhelmed.
It’s important to know that trauma isn’t defined by the actual event, but instead by our subjective emotional reaction to it. Therefore, trauma can take many shapes and forms. And if, in the midst of a global health pandemic that is already causing an increased amount of stress in your life, you have also been diagnosed with a new and seemingly sinister virus, the result may be an experience of trauma.
If this is the case, trauma therapy can help you cope with your emotions. While working with a trauma therapist, you will be guided to make healing changes in your life, to allow the past to release its grip on you and move into a healthier future. The goal of trauma therapy is to allow you to process your fear in a safe environment and give you the tools to overcome emotional and psychological pain. This type of therapy will teach you self-help strategies for coping with difficult emotions and help you regain emotional balance and get on with your life.
What Exactly is Trauma Therapy?
First and foremost, trauma therapy is a safe space. It’s a space where you can learn more about what trauma is and how it affects us. It’s also a space where you can talk openly about what you are experiencing and how you are feeling. One of the goals of trauma therapy is to help you recognize and understand how a specific traumatic event (such as a coronavirus diagnosis) is impacting your sense of well-being. From there, you will learn healthy ways to cope with your feelings and strategies for resolving them.
The focus of this type of therapy is to help you identify which feelings were triggered by the event and to give you the strategies and skills to resolve them, thus reshaping your experience so that it no longer negatively affects your behaviors in the present. You could say the goal of trauma therapy is to enable you to reestablish your sense of safety in yourself and in the world.
Why Trauma Therapy for a Coronavirus Diagnosis?
A global health pandemic, this thing that is happening right now, in the world, is already a recipe for increased levels of fear, stress, and anxiety. If you then add a COVID-19 diagnosis to an already long list of psychological stressors, your chances of experiencing trauma at this
Your participation in trauma therapy may very well be the catalyst that allows you to move out of the past and once again experience the world with trust, safety, and confidence.
time grow exponentially. The result is that you are left feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope. That is why you would go to trauma therapy for a coronavirus diagnosis.
The signs of trauma are unique to each of us and will be expressed differently by each of us. Signs of trauma may include fear, anger, confusion, or a sense of hopelessness or loss – and it’s all ok. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to respond to a coronavirus diagnosis or any kind of trauma, so go ahead and give yourself a break. Whichever way you are feeling is completely normal.
However, ignoring or hiding from your feelings will only slow your recovery. Instead, if you’d like to move through this time intentionally and with care, trauma therapy is an excellent way to do this. Through this process, you will learn to calm your nervous system, to navigate change and uncertainty with ease, and to come through this time and your diagnosis with more grace and greater resilience than you had going in.
Other Services offered at The Relationship Therapy Center in California:
In addition to online therapy, Our Sacramento area counseling clinics located in Roseville and Fair Oaks, CA are pleased to offer a variety of mental health services. At the moment, all our therapy services are being offered online to comply with social distancing and the stay-in-place order issued by the state of California. Our trauma therapy services include: tips and tools to find relief from trauma very quickly, depending on the type of trauma you are or have experienced. First, we will work together to find out what is bothering you and causing you to feel anxious. Then, we will next start uncovering what effects trauma has on your body. Finally, you will learn ways to reduce symptoms from trauma using coping techniques you’ll learn in therapy sessions. Please contact our therapy office to learn more about the many ways we can help you and your loved ones heal, grow, and love well.