Trauma - The Invisible Visitor
What you can do when bad experiences won’t leave.

By Merrill Graham, PhD, LMSW, RPT
November 2020

Trauma, and the symptoms of trauma, are perhaps one of the most common issues that we encounter when assessing and treating patients. Trauma is relative, and patient-specific, and it does not know gender, race, religion, or political preference. In fact, it is very much a human (and animal) condition that results from an experience that is perceived as emotionally, psychologically, or physically threatening. Trauma is also age and development-specific, which means that the perceptions of the individual at the age of trauma exposure might actually “imprint” based on their own age and developmental understanding of the experience(s). Having said this, there are certain universally accepted characteristics of trauma, which include:

• A disruption of connectedness with others, such as feeling disconnected and alone.
• Defensive reactions towards others, including being easily triggered into the fight/flight/freeze response. Also, by dissociating (mentally stepping around certain uncomfortable thoughts and/or feelings).
• Interference with co-regulation, control of emotions and self-regulation, and the ability to handle distress. (Porges and Van der kok, 2018)

Trauma is relative, and patient-specific, and it does not know gender, race, religion, or political preference.

So, how can therapy help?

It’s as easy as contacting a trained trauma therapist. Proven trauma therapies such as EMDR can help by increasing feelings of safety while decreasing the physiological arousal of memories and associations that result from the traumatic experience. EMDR directly challenges the negative self-thoughts associated with trauma as well. Additionally, EMDR has been proven to decrease stress, decrease anxiety, and manage many forms of depression. For more information, contact Dr. Merrill Graham at merrillgraham.com.

By Merrill Graham, PhD, LMSW, RPT
November 2020

About the Author

Merrill Graham, PhD, LMSW, RPT

Merrill Graham, PhD, LMSW, RPT, specializes in depression, anxiety, and trauma with children and adults. Dr. Graham has specialized training in EMDR and trauma therapy with children and adults, and is completing her postgraduate certificate in Bessel Van der kolk's nationally recognized Trauma Certificate Program.