“Trauma is not the story of something that happened back then. It’s the current imprint of that pain, horror, and fear living inside of people.”

Bessel van der Kolk

Psychological trauma is generally defined as an emotional response to catastrophic events, like war, rape, natural disaster, serious assault or accident.  It can also be categorised in terms of more complex presentations, such as repeated exposure to highly distressing events such as childhood neglect, physical, psychological or emotional abuse, bullying, and domestic violence, including coercive control.

Traumatic experiencing is a widespread contemporary phenomenon, with research suggesting that around 60% of adults will have experienced some type of traumatic event at certain points in their lives 

While only a small percentage of people are reported to develop serious psychiatric disorders following trauma experiences, psychological distress is considered a factor contributing to a range of other psychological and social conditions, such as anxiety and depression, alcohol and substance abuse, homelessness and social isolation.

At Brook Counselling, we adopt a ‘trauma informed’ perspective, designed to support clients living in the aftermath of distressing experiences, where what happened to them is often of greater immediate significance than what is ‘wrong’ with them.   Our therapists are trained in leading trauma treatment modalities, that include Cognitive Behaviour (CBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapies, as well as somatic techniques to aid therapeutic outcomes.

What is CBT?

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is a structured therapy approach, which aims to address psychological distress, through a process of assisting clients to reframe negative thought and behaviour patterns. Initially developed for use in the treatment of depression and anxiety, the model proposes that how we cognitively interpret situations (including traumatic events), will determine our feelings and how we react, rather than the situations themselves. 

The role of the therapist is to help clients to understand their thought patterns, and enable them to manage these in ways that are healthy, rather than in ways which lead to malfunctioning and distress across emotional, behavioural and physical dimensions.

What is EMDR?

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.  EMDR shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma, much as the body recovers from physical wounding.  

Unlike conventional therapy, EMDR does not require talking in detail about disturbing events. Instead, the therapist assists clients to change the emotions, thoughts or behaviours that result from distressing experiences. The treatment process combines eye movements and step-by-step instructions, designed to re-process disturbing memories, so as to assist the client to “heal” the mental wounds from the past, thereby avoiding the re-living of painful events and related feelings.