Positive Healing and Trauma Services

10/14/2024

Unveiling the Hidden Connection: How Trauma Affects Your Physical Health

sleep problems after a trauma

While the emotional and psychological impacts of trauma are widely recognized, the profound effects it can have on our physical health often go unnoticed. It is crucial to bear in mind that the impact of trauma can persist for a significant amount of time, affecting both our physical and emotional health, regardless of when it occurred - be it during childhood or adulthood. Understanding this mind-body connection is crucial for holistic healing and recovery.

The Stress Response: A Survival Mechanism Gone Haywire
In the presence of an overwhelming experience, our physical mechanism triggers a highly intricate stress response system that aims to safeguard us from potential harm. When an individual undergoes stress, their body releases certain hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones can result in various physical changes such as heightened heart rate, quick breathing, and tensed muscles.

The body's stress response can be crucial for survival in the immediate term. However, when trauma is ongoing or unresolved, this system can become dysregulated, leading to chronic stress and a host of physical health problems.

The Physical Manifestations of Trauma
Trauma can manifest in numerous physical symptoms, including:

Chronic Pain: Studies have shown a strong correlation between trauma and chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and migraines. This is due to the ongoing activation of the stress response, which can lead to inflammation and muscle tension.

Sleep Problems: Trauma survivors often experience difficulties with sleep, including insomnia, nightmares, and sleep disturbances. It can be challenging to calm down and sleep after experiencing a traumatic event due to the intense feelings of arousal that come with it.

Immune System Dysfunction: Prolonged exposure to stress can have detrimental effects on an individual's immune system, thus increasing their vulnerability to various infections and illnesses. Trauma survivors may experience frequent colds, flu, or other health problems.

Cardiovascular Issues: According to various studies, experiencing trauma can escalate the chances of developing heart diseases, strokes, and other related cardiovascular conditions. The chronic stress associated with trauma can raise blood pressure, increase inflammation, and damage blood vessels.

Healing the Mind and Body: A Holistic Approach
Addressing the physical effects of trauma requires a holistic approach that considers both the mind and body. Trauma-informed therapy, such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), can help individuals process traumatic experiences and regulate their stress response.

In addition to therapy, lifestyle modifications like exercise, relaxation techniques, and healthy eating habits can play a significant role in managing physical symptoms and promoting overall well-being.

Seeking Support and Finding Healing
If you are experiencing physical health problems that you suspect may be related to trauma, seeking professional help is crucial. Consider seeing a trauma specialist if you have symptoms related to trauma. By seeking help from a professional, you can get to the root of the problem and receive a personalized treatment plan designed just for you. Don't hesitate to reach out for assistance in identifying the cause and finding a solution that meets your specific needs.

At Positive Healing and Trauma Services, we offer compassionate and evidence-based therapy to individuals who have experienced trauma. Beth specializes in trauma-informed therapies and can provide support throughout your healing journey.

If you are ready to take the first step towards healing your mind and body, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at 609-469-1169 or visit our website at https://www.positivehealingandtrauma.com/contact to fill out our contact form. We are here to support you on your path to recovery.

Positive Healing & Trauma Services is Out of Network provider practice. Payment is due at the time of service.

01/09/2023

08/15/2022

05/20/2022

Trauma is a Journey

Traumatic experiences are subjective and highly personal. Events can create feelings of helplessness and evoke emotions related to that perceived threat as a response. They can be active or stay dormant for many years, only to arise at different times in your life. What causes trauma is the overstimulation of our core beyond the ability for our endurance, and that endurance capacity varies. It is true that additionally, trauma is cumulative and as it builds up makes us vulnerable to further crises. The impact of trauma can be subtle, insidious or destructive, staying with us long after the actual threat has receded. Trauma is not something we can just "get over ''; we bear it for a year, possibly a lifetime, finding ways, or not, to mesh the experience into our life in both healthy and more often unhealthy ways. Trauma often permanently changes us and even for those who want to have their lives back to a pre-trauma function, it can be difficult to accept. We are not defined by trauma, but we are certainly marked by it. Trauma can be described as the freezing of past and present into a single frozen defining moment often defy understanding.

Trauma is both a process and a state of being. It defies words, yet demands expression, over and over and can emerge when we least expect it. The intensity of trauma seems to make it impossible to either remember or forget. The dichotomy defies rational thought and makes forgetting impossible while also making any form of recollection seem inadequate.

Often the traumatic event or series of events are too horrible to put into words; too horrifying to be integrated into how we make sense of the world. The intensity of a trauma is what defies understanding and so a description that someone else understands seems to indicate that the trauma wasn't as intense as it seemed to be. Description seems impossible. When forced to discuss the traumatic occurrence, we recite it as if it is a story, one that happens to another person.

The dilemma is that we must tell our stories, and yet our stories cannot be told. The traumatic experience is in a sense, timeless and ongoing. Trauma exists in the forever present and in order to capture the heart of the experience, we must risk another journey back to the trauma. We are both back there and here at the same time; and we are able to distinguish between the two. We remember what happened then without losing a sense of existing and working toward healing in a positive way, into the light and warmth.

We struggle to put our experiences into words and with the help of therapy and an empathetic professional, you can learn to heal from trauma. It is not an easy journey, one that takes time and patience. And yet, it is not okay to state that the horrors of the trauma are too terrible for words and therefore must be left unsaid and unheard. Many emerge from trauma wanting to talk about what they describe as "unsayable". This is a power shift, one that allows you to regain your strength and find resilience without letting the trauma define you. Despite the content of what is said, what is crucial is that it is said. The significance of sharing a trauma lies not in what is said, but simply that something is said and that the step is taken forward.

03/21/2022

Emotions happen, they are are part of our life, but instead of feeling like you are being controlled by them, work to understand how you are feeling, how your emotions will be impacted by the events in your life and above all, when you don’t react well, banish the guilt, stop pitying yourself for being overwhelmed by emotions, pick up the pieces, make your apologies and move forward.

Take that first step and call today. Make positive changes in your life!

10/27/2021

Beth McGinley MA, Ed.S, LPC, CCTP

I work with people who are on a journey of self-discovery and healing. I help tweens, teens and adults improve their lifestyles and attain healthier relationships with themselves and others. I have experience working with issues of gender identity, sexual orientation, grief, anxiety, trauma and depression of all racial and religious backgrounds.

I have two Master's degrees, one in education from Rutgers University and one in mental health counseling from Seton Hall University, as well as a Post-Master's degree in Professional Counseling, also from Seton Hall. I have worked at New Jersey's largest drug rehabilitation organization with inpatient men and IOP women as part of a diversion program for prison and reunification of families affected by addiction. I have run groups on self-esteem, parenting, relapse prevention and anger management. I have also worked with inner city youth and families doing mental health counseling and assessments, improving family structure and the effects of poverty and trauma. I have spent the last five years working in private practice servicing clients with a broad variety of concerns to great success and personal satisfaction of my clients.

I have the ability to connect with my clients at a deep and meaningful level and can recognize unhealthy patterns of behavior that, once addressed, can improve their quality world view. I work with clients of all racial and ethnic backgrounds to help them within the context of their culture, to improve functioning.

10/27/2021

In-Person Sessions
Telehealth Option
Evening and Weekend Hours Available
Positive Healing & Trauma Services offers both in- person and tele-health sessions! Telehealth is offered as a convenient, effective, and safe way to implement services during the Covid-19 Pandemic. We implement effective and proven therapeutic methods, including mindfulness and cognitive restructuring to address irrational and faulty processing and encourage our clients to adopt a new thought process, as well as effective ways to cope with challenging life situations. We also address new and healthy ways to access and process past personal and generational traumas.The ultimate goal is for our clients the capacity and strength to find stability and healing, at the same time utilizing a compassionate and strengths based approach. Connecting with your therapist and developing a therapeutic alliance that allows the difficult work of processing the past and current issues to bring about many positive changes, meeting from where you the client begin to a healthy resolution.