Psychological trauma occurs when you have an intense emotional reaction (appropriate to extreme circumstances) greater than your ability in the moment, to process.  Amnesia, obsessive and intrusive thoughts, dissociation (feeling removed from what is going on) and other symptoms of anxiety (including PTSD and panic) depression, unmanagable anger or relationship problems can result. 

                                                          Two Kinds of Trauma            

"Big T" trauma  is associated with catastrophic events, like being a victim of rape or other assault, witnessing violence, experiencing war, etc.

"Little t" trauma  occurs during childhood.  Children are in the process of developing a mature emotional system, as well as forming ideas that tend to last throughout life, about who they are, how people are likely to treat them, and whether the world is a safe or unsafe place.  An immature, still-developing, emotional system can more easily be overwhelmed by on-going criticism, put-downs, abuse or neglect, resulting in trauma.

                    

Trauma often occurs in non-abusive homes   It doesn't take an abusive parent to err in giving a child what he needs during an important developmental period.  Parents get busy, events occur (divorce, ill health, etc.) that take their attention away, and sometimes through no intention, parents can't provide a developmental need, like helping you understand and not be afraid of feelings, or helping you develop good self-esteem.                                    

Therapy helps you learn to understand and experience  emotions so they can help you, rather than overwhelm or sabatage you.  Through the therapeutic process, there is gradual relief from anxiety, depression and relationship problems. 

 

Individual Therapy   While recent trauma can sometimes be resolved relatively briefly, developmental trauma generally involves Depth Psychotherapy because you've lived with the affects of trauma for a long time and they've permeated your life, generating the same problematic emotional and behavioral patterns, over and over again.  It might even be difficult for you to know the difference between the effects of trauma, and who you are as a person.

 

EMDR  I often use EMDR (http://www.emdr.com/briefdes.htm) to help clients get "unstuck" from painful patterns of emotional response and maladaptive behavior. 

 

Group Therapy   Group can help you learn better ways to relate, than you learned in your first group, your family.  Many move into group therapy after initial progress in individual therapy.