Trauma Informed Care
Trauma Informed Care and the Treatment of Trauma including PTSD
For years mental health professionals have been practicing trauma-informed care. This approach acknowledges that people have traumatic experiences that can affect our behavior and how we view ourselves, others, and the world. When we recognize trauma, we’re able to work with it to reduce or eliminate the negative outcomes. Around 90% of people have experienced at least one traumatic event with multiple exposures being very common.
For clarity, not all changes we get from trauma are negative. If someone hit my car when they ran a red light it can help me be more aware and check both ways before entering an intersection when the light turns green. But if I have anxiety or panic when the light turns green and I check both ways, that’s an example of something we can work on.
Other examples of trauma can include a move as a child, sexual or physicalabuse, cultural trauma such as experiencing racism, and natural disasters. After trauma we can develop diverse symptoms such as anxiety, sadness, withdrawal, difficulty sleeping, and general unease.
Thankfully the awareness of trauma informed care is spreading beyond mental health workers. This includes physical health practitioners such as yoga instructors, reiki practitioners, doctors, and chiropractors. It’s also spreading to other fields such as lawyers and coaches.
As a client the encouragement is to vet your providers for knowledge around trauma-informed care. Ask if they’re aware of it, what their training is, and what their experience with it is. There isn’t any clear set boundaries or rules around what does and doesn’t constitute trauma informed care, but a provider having some training from what you deem is a reputable source is important.
At the Nashville Psychedelic Center all of our practitioners have experience and training in trauma informed care. We’re also excited to soon be offering MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD. The Phase 2 trial results show it to be the most effective treatment for PTSD that we currently have.
Here are some resources if you want to learn more about trauma and it’s effect on us.
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma