AEDP and Trauma
Healing From Trauma With Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy
The Ability To Heal Lies Within You
If you’re looking for a therapist trained in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy near Davis, California, please call my office at 1-530-650-5190 to schedule a free phone consultation.
What Is Trauma?
When you hear the word ‘trauma,’ what comes to mind? Many people associate trauma with soldiers in combat. While veterans often endure horrific trauma, traumatic experiences are not limited to war-related violence.
In fact, some experts estimate that about 70% of Americans have endured some type of trauma during their lives! While that figure might sound hard to believe, it’s less surprising when we consider the many kinds of traumatic events a person might encounter throughout the lifespan. Child abuse, physical assault, difficult childbirth, rape, natural disasters, the death of a loved one, car accidents, serious illness, and domestic violence are just a few experiences that can be classified as trauma.
Effects And Symptoms Of Trauma
The effects of trauma are almost as varied as the life events that lead to it. Some people develop symptoms immediately following a traumatic event. For others, effects may not appear until months or even years later.
The effects of trauma sometimes seem unrelated to the traumatic events that caused them, making it difficult for the sufferer to recognize trauma’s influence. Traumatic experiences can even lead to somatic (physical) complaints, including headaches and other types of chronic pain.
In severe cases, an individual may suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a debilitating condition that can cause flashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks, and avoidance of things that remind her of the traumatic event. PTSD can occur from a single traumatic ordeal or following a prolonged period of suffering, such as child abuse or domestic violence. Some sufferers of PTSD have problems with emotional regulation and even anger. Others suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, depression, dissociation, sleep disturbances, or self-harm.
The Importance Of Recognizing Trauma
Whether or not you fit the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis, you should still see an experienced, qualified professional who can address unresolved trauma. Given that some 70% of adults may have survived a traumatic event, the vast majority of people could probably benefit from therapy!
Treatment is particularly important if you endured trauma during your childhood. A child’s brain is very plastic. In other words, children’s brains are highly impressionable as they grow. Your childhood environment and experiences - good and bad - shape your brain’s development.
When you are exposed to trauma during childhood, the traumatic experience can become hardwired into your brain. If you suffered a great deal of anxiety or fear as a child, you may also suffer repeated cycles of those feelings as an adult. Trauma that affects your relationships with your earliest caregiver(s) is known as attachment trauma. Unresolved attachment trauma can affect every aspect of your life - including your health, your relationships, and your happiness.
Treating Trauma Using Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy
There are a number of ways to treat trauma, and a good clinician will decide which approach works best for the individual. As I’ve explained before, everyone is different, and no single therapeutic approach will benefit every client.
One of the most effective therapies I’ve found after decades of working with clients is Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), which was developed by a psychologist named Dr. Diana Fosha. In developing AEDP, Fosha drew from several existing psychological theories, including the theory of attachment. According to attachment theory, our earliest relationships with our primary caregivers influence our adult relationships and the way we connect with others throughout our lives.
AEDP also incorporates ideas from neuroscience and somatic psychology, which relates to the idea that we experience psychological phenomenon not only mentally but also physically in our bodies. An AEDP therapist uses somatic psychology by maintaining eye contact with the client and helping him track bodily sensations and the emotions that accompany them.
Benefits Of AEDP For Treating Trauma
“Lodged deeply in our brains and bodies, there for the awakening and activating in facilitating environments, lie innate, wired-in dispositions for self-healing and self-righting....” - Dr. Diana Fosha on AEDP
The central tenet underlying AEDP is an optimistic one: inside all of us lies an intrinsic ability to heal. An AEDP therapist will guide you to use abilities you already possess. The therapist also serves as a trusted attachment figure throughout the process of drawing those skills to the surface. You learns to heal yourself, making you more resilient and better able to tackle future adversity.
Rather than attempting to hide uncomfortable or difficult emotions, your therapist will guide you to face those emotions and deal with them. As your AEDP coach helps you tear down superficial defenses that mask emotions below the surface, you will grow more comfortable recognizing negative emotions. In doing so, you can stop fearing your feelings, and they lose some of the power they once held.
Some people worry that therapy will take years to have an effect. Fortunately, AEDP can usually enact positive changes quickly. A client who is treated using AEDP often starts to feel better after just a few sessions. In fact, one thing that motivated Fosha to develop AEDP was her frustration with how long psychoanalysis could take to improve a person’s life.
In addition to being quicker than traditional psychotherapy, AEDP is also an evidence-based approach that can be used to treat a variety of psychological conditions. The efficacy of AEDP is backed by years of quality research supporting its use as an effective treatment.
In summary, the benefits of AEDP include its ability to:
heal many types of trauma, including attachment trauma
tear down defenses that mask the emotions underlying them
restore confidence in one’s inborn ability to heal
improve insecure attachment patterns
build resilience to face difficult emotions
reduce symptoms over a short period of time
use a science-backed approach to treat trauma
I am certified AEDP therapist with more than twenty years of experience. I prefer to use AEDP for individual therapy, particularly with those affected by trauma. Remember: you already have the skills you need to overcome trauma. My job is to show you how to make the most of those abilities.
If you live in California and are wondering if AEDP may be right for you, I encourage you to take the first step toward healing by contacting a qualified online therapist at 1-530-650-5190.