JOIN USHealing from trauma
“I felt like I was falling apart. Even the slightest stress at work was enough to break me down. I was snappy and angry at the people I love, often without knowing why. I could not understand myself anymore. I couldn’t understand why I was so anxious and volatile,” says Sujatha.* “That happened years ago. I thought I had moved on! Why do I get nightmares now, suddenly,” asks Bhavik. “Every time I see someone who resembles him, I tremble. My heart races, and I want to run away from there. Yet, I can’t. I feel frozen” — Manjula.
Meet Trauma. It has many faces and many forms. Sujatha, Bhavik, and Manjula are describing only a part of trauma’s many manifestations. Often misunderstood, trauma lives on in body symptoms even when it’s buried deep in the subconscious. These appear when least expected. And the triggers can be so far removed from the actual event that trauma survivors are often left bewildered by the complexity of their reactions.
While trauma has always been around, it’s only of late that we have seen increasing conversations and awareness around the deep impact of trauma.
Deepti Khemchandani, a trauma-informed therapist, agrees that there is greater awareness on how trauma can result from physical and emotional, domestic violence, or emotionally unavailable caregivers. “People are also beginning to see the effects of culturally-induced trauma, also known as trans-generational/inter/multi-generational trauma, such as differential treatment to men and women for generations, patriarchy, ostracism, and the like,” she says.
In What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing by Bruce D Perry and Oprah Winfrey, Perry notes that trauma can leave you shipwrecked. “You are left to rebuild your inner world.” But how do you rebuild your inner world? Therapy can help. But not all therapists are created equal in their understanding or ability to treat trauma. It’s why trauma-focused therapists are increasingly coming into their own. “Trauma-informed therapy recognises the complexity of how trauma affects every individual. It also means the effects of trauma are different for every individual. This lens is needed to understand how deep-rooted trauma is and how it affects a person’s body, relationships, life, and beliefs about themselves and the world. Trauma-informed therapy is an approach that makes trauma less pathologising and more acceptable,” says Kuntal Vora, a counselling psychologist at AtEase. Vidya Vijay, a trauma-informed and queer affirmative psychologist at Marigold Counselling, agrees that it’s essential to view mental health from a trauma lens, regardless of the nature of trauma or the individual’s experience. But how does one find a good trauma-focused therapist? In India, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) offers a post-graduate diploma in trauma-focused therapy. The Alternative Story in Bengaluru also offers a certificate course in trauma therapy. Still, there are no state or national regulations that define a trauma-centred therapist. And given the complexities of trauma, Deepti says that many existing and popular modalities of therapy often aren’t enough. A lot of her work focuses on working with adults who have Adverse Childhood Experiences such as child sexual abuse, neglect, physical abuse, and vicarious trauma. “In trauma therapy, we never ask our clients to ‘talk’ about the trauma, as we risk the danger of re-traumatising them. Trauma therapy progresses in three stages: stabilisation, reprocessing and integration. We initially work with their symptoms to help them gain control over simple tasks that may seem daunting to them, such as focusing on conversations, driving, decision-making, etc.,” she adds. All of this is why trauma work can sometimes take years. And also why techniques such as deep belly breathing, ‘tapping,’ and even acupuncture have shown varying degrees of success in healing from trauma. But in the end, there’s no right approach to processing and healing from trauma. We are complex creatures dealing with complex emotions and complex reactions to those emotions. Dealing with trauma can seem daunting, but the body and mind can be healed with the right support.
(*Some names have been changed on request.)