Trauma causes both emotional and behavioral impact on an individual, and therefore it may seem challenging to respond to and manage a traumatized individual. After exposure to a traumatic event such as an accident that ended up killing all the family members and the patient is the sole survivor, he/she may experience some involuntary intrusive memories. Identified with PTSD, she may experience unpleasant or painful memories, insomnia or low-self-esteem (Ehlers & Wild, 2015). The individual might need some medication or psychotherapy to bring his/her life back. Different treatments are available trauma; some which are of a long-term nature while others for a short period.
There are different types of psychotherapy that physicians use to treat trauma; cognitive, exposure therapy, and EMDR. Most physicians use Cognitive Processing Therapy as effective behavioral therapy to prevent relapse for people with behavioral changes as a result of trauma. Therapy changes the attitudes and behaviors of a person and improves their feelings on a particular issue (Ehlers & Wild, 2015). It helps the patient recognize the cognitive patterns that are keeping her stuck to that traumatic event such as belief of the traumatic event reoccurring. Exposure therapy helps the patient face both the memories and situations that may seem frightening so that they develop skills in coping with them effectively. This behavioral therapy is helpful for flashbacks in re-entering the setting of the trauma happening. Lastly, the EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) combines with the exposure therapy to help the patient process traumatic memories and eventually change their reaction towards the trauma. These therapies help the individual develop stress management skills that help in the future in handling stressful situations better.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
During the treatment, the physician should note that traumatized people take some time to heal and should not expect unrealistic quick recoveries. Available family support and encouragement increases the healing process but not pushing the patient beyond his/her capabilities and readiness. The objectives of these treatments are to restore the self-esteem of the patient and improve their symptoms.
Reference
Ehlers, A., & Wild, J. (2015). Cognitive therapy for PTSD: Updating memories and meanings of trauma. In Evidence-based treatments for trauma-related psychological disorders (pp. 161-187). Springer, Cham.
