Source: gcu.edu
In simple terms, an actual trauma therapist is a certified mental health provider who has had extensive training, guidance, and clinical experience almost exclusively with trauma. The trauma therapist is most probably a social worker, mental health counselor, or psychologist. An authentic trauma therapist is not a person who has had only passive experience dealing with trauma, meaning that a therapist who has dealt with just one or two patients, despite focusing on trauma, does not make him a trauma therapist. More particularly, the next paragraphs will provide you with a clearer perspective of what to look for if you want help from a trauma therapist.
Characteristics Of A Real Trauma Therapist
- The trauma therapist should have comprehensive applied knowledge of the course of acute and posttraumatic stress. An awareness of post-trauma reactions that emerge and develop through time is a tremendously vital facet of managing trauma. The therapist should be aware of the things he should watch out for and the best ways to manage their patients’ indications. He must be very well-informed of these areas of diagnosis and management.
- The trauma therapist should have trained in a dedicated setting focused on trauma. This usually implies that the therapist has finished an extended-length workshop or residency in a trauma center or facility, emphasizing trauma psychology. To validate this, check the therapist’s about page. It will have to mention acquiring training and clinical experience in a veteran’s administration, community trauma facility, or hospital. If you are still uncertain, investigate the therapist’s whereabouts regarding where he could have trained or worked exclusively on trauma.
- The trauma therapist has managed numerous trauma cases. As mentioned above, having worked on one or two trauma patients does not qualify him to be a real trauma practitioner. Trauma psychology is a very focused aspect of psychological practice. This necessitates that the therapist must have substantial experience in dealing with a range of trauma cases from beginning to end to be considered proficient and capable of offering trauma treatment.
Source: sbtreatment.com
- The trauma therapist must have a comprehensive understanding of the effects of trauma on an individual’s life. This can only be achieved by gaining an extensive familiarity with trauma and its management, as this is the basis of relevant education and experience in the field. The truth is that if you were working with an unauthentic trauma therapist, that therapist wouldn’t be aware of what real trauma responses really look like. This implies that he would not be able to comprehend the struggles that his patient is going through, he won’t know the appropriate questions to ask and the elusive features, statements, and behaviors to watch out for. Only an authentic trauma therapist has the depth and extent of training and education that enables him to be accurately and meticulously provide treatment and management.
- The trauma therapist will not typically administer cognitive behavioral therapy. CBT is indeed the foundation of some of the trauma treatment regimens. However, a therapist who teaches his patients CBT techniques for managing their trauma is not a real trauma therapist, meaning that he does have methods that would help his patients. Still, he is not educated in the treatments and techniques focused exclusively on recovery from trauma.
- The trauma therapist must complete at least one or more (with any luck) evidence-based trauma treatments or EBTs. These are therapies that have experiential proof that support their efficacy. Luckily, trauma management is composed of three EBT techniques that are extremely effective in decreasing trauma indications and assisting the patient in getting back their quality of life. The techniques include Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Prolonged Exposure (PE), and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). A real and reliable trauma therapist must be an expert in at least of these three techniques. However, ideally, he should be experienced in all three as they are not precisely interchangeable.
Source: medicalxpress.com
- The trauma therapist must have a certification in trauma management. Training for this can be unclear. Other practitioners unfairly claim that they are trained in a specific treatment technique because they have had some experience with trauma therapy. For instance, maybe the treatment was the main subject in a graduate course lecture, or perhaps the therapist had a chance to observe a senior practitioner as he was administering the treatment several times. This does not, in any way, equal the scope and definition of training. In its most proper use, the word ‘trained’ means that the practitioner has been educated, has practiced, tested, and almost always utilizes trauma treatments. Because of this, it would be better to be working with a therapist who holds a certification in one or more areas, including the three techniques mentioned above.
Conclusion
Generally speaking, it is vital to find an expert for most mental health issues, but this is particularly true with trauma because of its extremely specialized nature. Also, the most major matter for the patient is typically the outcomes. There is a higher likelihood of you obtaining positive outcomes if you work with a therapist who knows what he is doing and is confident that he can help you.