Trauma therapy is a broad term that describes a variety of psychotherapy approaches focused on helping you heal from traumatic experiences. The type of trauma therapy that’s right for you depends on your needs and preferences.
Traumatic events are experiences that cause physical or emotional harm — often both. They’re circumstances that overwhelm your immediate ability to cope and can create intense feelings of shock, fear, and despair.
Natural disasters, death, acts of violence, and abuse are all common causes of trauma. You don’t have to be directly involved in a traumatic event to be significantly affected. Witnessing can be just as impactful.
With time, the effects of trauma lessen for many people. Sometimes, however, traumatic experiences can be challenging to move past. You may keep reexperiencing them through dreams, reminders, or flashbacks, for example, or they may contribute to other challenges, like anxiety and depression.
When trauma is having a significant impact on essential areas of life, trauma therapy can help.
What is trauma therapy, and who is it for?
“Trauma therapy” is an umbrella term for psychotherapies that focus on helping you heal from trauma-related symptoms and conditions. You may benefit from trauma therapy if you have:
Trauma therapy isn’t only to treat formal mental health conditions. It may also be beneficial if you experience distressing physical symptoms, trauma-related relationship challenges, thoughts or actions of self-harm , or extreme mood changes.
Associated terms
When discussing or researching trauma therapy, you may come across these terms, which may be used interchangeably or mean different things depending on context:
- Trauma therapy: It usually refers to therapy for trauma-related conditions or broader symptoms that might not be linked to a formal diagnosis.
- Trauma-focused therapy: It may refer to therapy for formal trauma-related diagnoses, like PTSD.
- Trauma-informed therapy: This term may refer to any type of psychotherapy that works from an awareness and sensitivity toward traumatic experiences, even if the focus is on managing another condition.
How is trauma therapy different from other types of therapy?
Trauma therapy focuses on addressing conditions and symptoms specific to trauma. It may differ from other types of psychotherapy in its targeted focus. In other words, the main goal of any trauma therapy is to resolve the trauma and its associated symptoms.
Other types of therapy may take a broader look at your overall human experience. They may take trauma into consideration, like trauma-informed therapy, but their focus could be on improving interpersonal relationships, personal growth, or coping skills for distress unrelated to a traumatic event.
In trauma therapy, your therapist may apply strategies and techniques from other types of therapy, like cognitive restructuring . However, many trauma therapists are trained in specific techniques aimed at resolving traumatic memories, like gradual exposure and desensitization.
Types of trauma therapy
Some trauma therapy approaches include:
- Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT): It uses the traditional CBT framework to help identify and restructure unhelpful thoughts and behaviors related to trauma.
- Prolonged exposure therapy (PET): A form of CBT, exposure therapy helps resolve traumatic memories by gradually exposing you to associated elements, like images, sounds, or a recollection of events, to help ease fear and anxiety.
- Somatic experiencing (SE): It focuses on developing awareness of the physical sensations associated with a traumatic event. A somatic experiencing therapist helps you develop techniques for releasing these physical sensations and working through them to find relief.
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): A brain stimulation therapy, EMDR uses eye movements to work through the way traumatic memories are stored in the brain.
- Trauma-focused dialectical behavior therapy (TF-DBT): This type of DBT therapy blends CBT approaches with mindfulness to help manage challenging emotions and impulsions related to trauma.
- Cognitive processing therapy (CPT): A type of CBT, CPT helps you reframe unsettling thoughts related to trauma.
- Narrative exposure therapy (NET): It uses a structured narrative to retell the traumatic event from a different perspective.
- Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP): This type of dynamic therapy incorporates multiple techniques with a heavy focus on safety, trust, and support in the therapeutic setting.
- Internal family systems (IFS) therapy: It involves a deep introspective process to identify the parts of “self” affected by trauma.
- Sensorimotor psychotherapy: Also known as body psychotherapy, this therapy framework focuses on sensory aspects of trauma and expression through verbal and nonverbal means.
- Brief eclectic psychotherapy (BEP): It combines components of CBT with an emphasis on emotional processing and developing coping strategies specific to trauma.
All types of psychotherapy for trauma prioritize a relationship of trust between you and the therapist to ensure an environment where you feel safe and comfortable.
Trauma therapy also emphasizes collaboration, choice, and empowerment. You play an active role in deciding how your sessions progress. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, the therapist adapts your program to ensure you continue to feel emotionally and physically safe.
Trauma therapy is tailored to your needs and preferences. Multiple therapies might be considered or incorporated into a dynamic management plan.
Does science back trauma therapy?
Many forms of trauma therapy are backed by research within different therapeutic settings and scenarios. Most forms have been assessed under the scope of effectiveness for PTSD since this is one of the most common mental health conditions associated with trauma.
According to a scientific paper from 2022 , specialized trauma therapies backed by the most substantial evidence include:
- prolonged exposure therapy (PET)
- cognitive processing therapy (CPT)
- eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
The American Psychological Association (APA) lists CPT and PET as specialized trauma therapies that are “highly recommended” for PTSD based on the amount of evidence supporting their use.
The APA also recommends therapies like EMDR, narrative exposure therapy (NET), and brief eclectic psychotherapy (BEP), but clarifies that although the evidence behind them isn’t as strong, research still suggests positive outcomes for some people.
Can other therapies be used for trauma?
Psychotherapies that have broader applications, like CBT and cognitive therapy (CT), may be effective in managing trauma-related symptoms. In fact, the APA recommends CBT and CT for use in trauma management.
These types of therapy are distinguished from specialized trauma therapies because their frameworks can be applied to various conditions and scenarios.
How to find a trauma therapist
If you’re looking for a trauma therapist, consider calling the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) national helpline at 800-662-4357. The call is always confidential, and representatives are available 24/7.
You can also try visiting:
A primary care physician can recommend therapists in your area and within your health insurance network. If you’re a member of community support networks, speaking with others about their therapist experiences can help you find a professional you feel comfortable with.
Takeaway
Trauma therapy is a term that encompasses multiple types of psychotherapies explicitly used for trauma-related symptoms and conditions.
Psychotherapies like prolonged exposure therapy (PET) and cognitive processing therapy (CPT) are strongly backed by research, but a therapist will create an individualized plan based on your needs and preferences.
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