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What is the best treatment for symptoms of trauma?
Despite what has been published and repeated by many people in the field of mental health, there is no one treatment for trauma that is better than the others. Research conducted over the last 30 years consistently demonstrates that the approaches used in treating people with trauma symptoms share core active ingredients. These most important components of successful therapy are feeling respected, feeling safe, and working with someone who listens and who works on clients’ priorities. Secondly, what is important is helping clients with tools and techniques to self regulate and providing information on trauma, and how it affects the brain, sleep, concentration, and daily functioning. Even non-specific therapy approaches have been found to be equally effective to special trauma approaches. Psychodynamic, person-centered Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, etc. have been found equally effective in working with trauma compared to exposure-based therapies, cognitive processing therapy, and others. Additional therapies are Hypnosis, Meditation and EMDR.
If many different therapy approaches offered by a variety of mental health professionals can
be helpful to me, how can I make sure to find a good therapist? The more current approach in determining helpful service providers is focusing on competency. A competent Mental Health professional offering counseling therapy is trained in the area they provide a service in. This means that most of the professionals that may be a good fit are trained in trauma, grief, depression, anxiety, addiction, and other areas of mental health. Most of the specialized training is obtained through professional development courses after graduation. However, the best predictor of a good therapy outcome is the therapy relationship and the therapist’s ability to adapt psychotherapy to the preferences of the client. This means that the best therapy is individualized to the needs of the client. There is no one approach that fits all, and manualized approaches are not sufficient. Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is exactly that “the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics” (American Psychological Association, 2006).
Where to find a therapist who is a good fit?
When looking for a good psychotherapist, you can go on the Internet and type in some referral sources such as Psychology Today. What you can do is look for people who list trauma as an area they are trained in. Most private practitioners have a website. Look up more information and if you have questions that are not answered on their website, feel free to send an email. Ask them how long their waitlist is, ask them the fee for service, and if not stated on the website ask them about insurance and benefits. A good therapist will have no issues with answering questions. One core component of ethical health service provision is “informed consent”. This means that clients have the right to ask questions and to feel confident about the choices they make regarding their health. After all, the service is for you and the quality of the therapeutic relationship is a core ingredient of successful therapy. Relationship building starts right there, finding a person whom you feel comfortable with, and who is open to listening to your feedback.
For Further Detail:
Read up on PTSD or OSI in the OSI-CAN Manual
Our mission is to inspire hope and contribute to the continuous well-being and recovery process of Veterans and Front Line Protectors across Canada.
We seek to empower and encourage them to strive for recovery through peer and professional support while creating greater public awareness.
We at OSI-CAN do not see PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a Disorder, we see it as an Injury you can recover from. If you are suffering from the symptoms of an Occupational or Operational Stress Injury, then a PTSD or PTSI diagnosis is not required to get our help
The target demographic of OSI-CAN are but are not limited to: former and serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Allied Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Frontline Protectors --- which include Municipal Police Services, CN Police Services, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Protection Services, Wildland Firefighters, Hospital Trauma personnel, Nurses, healthcare Workers, Social Workers, Animal Control Officers, Coroners, Indigenous Emergency Management, Victim Services Personnel, Emergency Communications Specialist, Corrections Officers, “Volunteer” First Responders, Conservation Officers, Aboriginal Emergency Services personnel, Tow Truck drivers who clean up accident scenes and their spouses/partners. This demographic was chosen due to the commonality of experiences they share through the service they provide to the country and community. We have a special interest and support volunteer first responders as they are not eligible for programs such as Workers' Compensation.
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