Trauma and PTSD therapists in Clayton West, England ENG, United Kingdom GB
Trauma and PTSD
Sara Aicart-Pendlebury
Art Therapist, Human Givens Practitioner (HG.Dip.P), Member of Human Givens Institute, IFS therapist Levels 1&2, Narm Practitioner
PHOBIAS, PANIC ATTACKS AND POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS
The brain has an emotional alarm system designed to keep us safe. When people suffer from panic attacks, phobias or post-traumatic stress, it is because the system has gone into overdrive.
What happens is this. There is a small, structure in the brain, known as the amygdala (Greek for almond, which is its shape), that has access to our emotional memories and learned responses. It evolved in the distant past and its job is to match new circumstances to what is already in the store and alert us to anything that previously represented a risk and might do so again. In the distant past, this might have been a movement or flash of colour that could have signified an approaching predator. The amygdala would then have triggered changes to help the body get ready to fight or flee the danger – pounding heart, racing pulse, quick, shallow breathing, etc.
Now imagine this. A young woman, who has had a highly stressful day, is waiting in a long supermarket queue, worrying whether she’ll be out of the shop in time to catch the bus to school to collect her little girl. It is one pressure too many. The amygdala responds as if she is under threat and she starts to feel her heart pounding strangely and her breathing quickens. She becomes terrified that she is having a heart attack and that makes the symptoms escalate – her palms sweat; her chest feels as if it is bursting and she struggles to breathe. Soon she feels overwhelmed and may collapse or run out of the shop. The amygdala, fearful that this could happen again, files away the fact that there were bright lights and lots of people queuing when the ‘threat’ occurred. Then, when the woman is queuing in the post office the next day, the bright lights and queue may be sufficient for the over-vigilant amygdala to trigger another panic attack to deal with the new ‘threat’.
Phobias start the same way – the amygdala makes associations with what was going on when a person first felt threatened, not all of which may be relevant. So, while it is understandable that someone who is attacked by a vicious dog may well develop a fear of dogs generally, it could equally be the case that someone develops a fear of broken glass because, on a previous occasion, when they had had a panic attack, there was broken glass lying near to where they collapsed. Agoraphobia develops when someone is too frightened of panic attacks even to leave the house.
In the case of post-traumatic stress, someone who was in the back seat of a car when a collision occurred may find it frightening to travel in the back seat again but there may be other, unconscious, connections with the accident too, such as the smell of petrol. So the person may experience seemingly inexplicable panic when filling up their own car with petrol.
Fortunately, human givens practitioners are taught a simple and effective way to deal with all these circumstances. If a traumatic memory is causing panic attacks, phobias or post-traumatic stress, they can use a powerful, painless visualisation procedure, known as the rewind technique, to take the emotion out of the memory and enable the memory of the event to be stored away as history, instead of as one that continues to intrude on the present. The memory remains, and always will remain, a deeply unpleasant one but no longer is it emotionally arousing. This method can work swiftly and reliably even in the most extreme of cases.
15 Years Experience
Trauma and PTSD
The Sacred Womb
Therapist, PGDip,
Understand and clear the multi-dimensional pain that's trapped and driving patterns to re-occur - across your soul's journey.
18 Years Experience
Trauma and PTSD
Angela Sterling-Noel
Counsellor/Therapist, PG Cert. Systemic Practice, Dip HE Counselling, PG Cert., Supervision, NLP Practitioner Cert, PG Cert. Teaching in Higher Ed.
Trauma and PTSD are a result of life events were frightening experiences. Some of these experiences include, car accidents, childhood abuse, (emotional, neglect, sexual and physical) rape, domestic abuse/violence, death, and environmental events like fires, earthquakes, floods, and war. These incidents affect the brain’s ability to recall a coherent understanding of the events and the effects can be debilitating. In trauma-therapy, the aim is to help you rewrite the story and regain a feeling of safety and stability. I am a trauma-trained specialist and a PICT Practitioner – please click the link to find out more about Parks Inner Child Therapy
21 Years Experience
Trauma and PTSD
Saffron Marriner
Counsellor/Therapist, MBACP (Accred)
I have a particular interest in working in a trauma informed way and am committed to ongoing CPD specialising in this field. I am continuing to study this with a level 5 certificate in CPTSD currently. I may also use an IFS approach if this is appropriate and provide psycho education in relation to the autonomic nervous system, 5 f's, amygdala, triggers and encourage clients to practice the opposing relaxation responses, starting with basic breathing exercises which are the bodies' natural calming response.
20 Years Experience
Trauma and PTSD
Jerry Ramsden
Counsellor/Therapist, (Dip.Couns)
I’m a psychotherapist, working with clients living with trauma and PTSD.
Due to childhood abuse, I've been formally diagnosed with Complex-PTSD.
My training, knowledge, experience, and qualifications mean that I can truly work with clients who've experienced unspeakable acts of abuse and trauma including crimes committed against them of a sexual nature.
20 Years Experience