The following is a short piece written about combining my theoretical counselling orientation with the additional skills and certifications I have learnt since I qualified over 12 years ago. It is about being an integrative therapist.

My theoretical underpinnings come from Person Centred (PC) theory but my skillset is more integrative than that original learning. PC does not necessarily have a direct link to treating trauma and is often overlooked as a preferred treatment method in cases of PTSD, Rogers was writing before PTSD was used as a diagnosis. However, I feel that his belief that being in open psychological contact and offering unconditional positive therapeutic regard can help the client accept themselves and the trauma they have experience, thus in a safe and nurturing environment they may feel safe enough to start to explore and desensitise themselves from their trauma.

PC offers a deep and valuing approach to others traumas and subjective experiences, it does not require a medical model of tick this box to prove you have trauma. PC allows for the client to self-actualise and come to full acceptance of themselves and their experiences. PC recognises that the trauma is an experience that in incongruent with the client self-structure, thus the self-structure breaks down and denial of awareness can occur. PC working at relational depth with the client (the therapist being willing to go where the client goes and be congruent) then allows for the client to become more congruent and aware of events in a safe environment hopefully allowing then to integrate their experience into a new self-structure that is accepting of the traumatic experience and reach the actualising tendency.  It allows the client to work at their comfortable pace and rather than fixing the problem lets them become the new person fully integrated and at peace with their experiences.

Additionally I have a medical/biological understanding of how the brain processes trauma in the frontal lobe and then stores it in the hippocampus, and that if during this normal chemical process of storage if the brain does not process the memory correctly/normally for some reason, eg imbalance of chemicals due to heighten fight/flight/freeze state then the memory can become lodged or stuck creating flashbacks, making the person feel they are living the event and respond thusly (panic attack, attacking, hiding or running away), or that they are constantly in a heightened state of awareness causing additional chemicals in the body such as adrenaline as the body thinks it is reacting to a traumatic event.

In trauma cases I allow the client to work at their speed, to recognise the trauma and how it has impacted on them as an individual, I allowed the client to feel that I trust and believe in them and the safe counselling environment, I let them explore their feelings without an over-reaction or judgement. Clients often recognised that they are stronger than they believed that they have survived, they become congruent and do self-actualise. In additional training of Mindfulness and CBT techniques I would add to this relational depth approach the idea that reliving the trauma can help the client to adjust their storage and processing of the offending experience, sometimes called exposure therapy in CBT, it helps the client to better process and store the memory when it is discussed and relieved in a safe an d nurturing environment. This can be done by talking therapy such as PC, or by writing therapy (writing out the event to normalise it, or event changing the ending to help find closure for the client), or by drama therapy, hot seating (acting out the trauma to normalise the experience or desensitise the client, for example they may realise it was not as awful as they remember or they realise they are still alive and survived it, maybe become accepting or proud), some clients like to make use of their experiences to help other to help them feel fully actualised and whole again, some clients just feel safe being in psychological contact with someone who is accepting of their experience. Some clients benefit from mindful techniques to help them sooth their panic attacks or control their raging thoughts so that they are better able to process the events that they have experienced.

My aim as a therapist working with trauma clients is to find a way to integrate various techniques I have learnt in a safe way into the basis of PC theory.

If you’d like video, telephone or face to face counselling in the Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme or Staffordshire area please do contact Wright Minds at laura@wrightminds.co.uk or on 07598810304