Suppressed trauma can be the cause of many seemingly unrelated symptoms – and you may not even have a memory of the original ’cause’ of the trauma. Psychotherapist and Counsellor, Ciara Williams, talks below about how trauma can affect your life, and what you can do to solve it.

Depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, lack of memories, nightmares, feeling out of body, numbness, panic attacks, lack of concentration, self destructive behaviour, eating disorders, substance abuse, headaches, chronic pain, mistrust, hypervigilance, shame, worthlessness, hopelessness, a loss of a sense of the future, emotionally overwhelmed, insomnia and loss of interest are all symptoms of trauma!! They are not memories. Trauma survivors do not have memories, they have symptoms. Many people who are dealing with depression are actually dealing with supressed trauma within their system. Some would argue that being born is traumatic enough. If a mother has a c-section it is considered a “traumatic birth”. When we hear the word trauma we think of a car-crash or something very serious – it can be something as simple as being traumatised by our mothers expression when we are a baby. If we have a parent who is an alcoholic, that is considered a chronic trauma. Many people battle with the symptoms of trauma without ever knowing and people, in their quest for ease can turn to alcohol, drugs, shopping, porn, gambling, not eating enough, eating to little etc. These are called a ‘paniced attempt at self regulation’. These attempts at self regulation become addictive and key to a persons sense of survival and unbeknown to themselves they are always managing their symptoms. Specific work can be done in this area. Awareness plus understanding plus action equal a cure. Trust is key in the therapeutic relationship. It takes a client an average of six sessions to start considering trusting a counsellor to do this type of work. There are certain techniques that can be used that are wonderful, encorporating movement and creativity. Neuroplasty is wonderful – science and research shows us that the brain can repair following a trauma with the right approach. 

To find out more, to learn more about treatment for trauma, or to book an appointment, contact Ciara Williams.