The most important aspect of trauma-informed care is not taking a stance of “What’s wrong with you?” but rather coming from a perspective of “What happened to you?” The first step is using a compassionate approach to communicate that whatever happened is more than likely not your fault and the symptoms you’ve been experiencing are normal.
Trauma presents as either hypoarousal or hyperarousal. In hypoarousal, a person is numb, distant, or cut off. With hyperarousal, they’re overwhelmed, anxious, maybe impulsive, defensive, and reactive. Trauma therapy involves working to get you back to your Central Nervous System regulated and into your optimal arousal zone where you’re thinking and feeling simultaneously, more tolerant, able to recognize both your time and space orientation, and capable of integrating new experiences and information. I do this with Sensorimotor (somatic) Interventions, EMDR and Mindfulness based approaches.