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What Are Some of the Common Causes of Trauma?

Woman considering the common causes of trauma

Traumatic events are all too common, and many people face the challenge of living with their effects. Some struggle with the lasting impact of natural disasters, abuse, or severe injury. Others struggle with traumas that are less well-studied in their range of effects. Whatever the cause, all trauma survivors deserve support in recovery. If you’d like to learn more about the common causes of trauma and how a trauma therapy program can help, contact NuLife Behavioral Health today. We’re available at 888.568.2057 or online and offer qualified trauma recovery services in New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, and Massachusetts.

Why Does Trauma Occur?

Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur due to many causes, and the reasons for the causes of trauma are varied. In fact, behavioral science is continually refining its understanding of how individuals experience trauma. Nonetheless, here are a few common causes of trauma:

  • Severe physical injury or illness
  • Natural disasters, especially ones that directly impact your home or community
  • Domestic violence, which refers to abuse by an intimate partner
  • A loved one passing away
  • Rape, harassment, stalking, sex trafficking, or other forms of sexual abuse
  • Witnessing traumatic events, especially repeatedly, through channels like TV or social media
  • Bullying, either in person or through channels like social media or text message

Over recent decades, trauma research has advanced significantly. The complex interplay between physical and psychological trauma symptoms is still under study. For this reason, taking yourself and others seriously when trauma is suspected is important. Even doctors are still coming to understand how trauma can appear and manifest in individual clients. For example, the understanding that “indirect,” or witnessed, trauma can cause PTSD is relatively new.

What Happens in a Trauma Therapy Program?

Trauma therapy takes several forms, and a medical professional can help you determine the best for you. Below are a few types of trauma therapy widely available.

Eye Movement Reprocessing and Desensitization (EMDR) Therapy

This highly regarded therapy has helped countless people reduce their trauma symptoms in relatively few sessions. Tapping into the brain’s natural healing abilities, EMDR pairs alternating stimulation of the two brain hemispheres with talk therapy. Clients who receive bilateral stimulation while recounting a trauma experience fuller cognitive and nervous system processing than they could at the time they first experienced the trauma.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

In this talk-therapy model, clients learn to recognize destructive thought patterns and reframe them over time. They likewise develop mindfulness, the ability to return to the present moment when their thoughts or emotions turn to fixations on the past or worry about the future.

Seeking Safety Method

This method may be a great alternative if a client’s trauma doesn’t respond well to direct interventions like the ones above. Instead of asking clients to revisit their pasts, it focuses on the future. Clients work on learning self-care practices, dealing with triggers, building solid relationships, and setting themselves up for success and fulfillment in their lives to come.

Somatic Therapy

The whole body gets involved in the healing process through somatic therapy. Providers may draw on techniques like yoga, meditation, tai chi, or other movement disciplines. The underlying idea is that when a traumatic event occurs and the person experiencing it can’t fully process it at the moment, the trauma lives on not only in their mind but also in their body. Somatic therapy thus enlists the body’s support in helping the mind safely experience and let go of the unprocessed fight, flight, and freeze responses.

Find a Trauma Therapy Program in Massachusetts at NuLife Behavioral Health

If you or a loved one is living with the effects of trauma, remember that you’re not alone. The caring team at NuLife Behavioral Health Services is standing by to help connect you to resources for trauma therapy. Contact NuLife Behavioral Health today at 888.568.2057 or fill out our confidential online form to start the conversation about reasons for trauma that’s unresolved and life after healing from it.