Melbourne trauma psychotherapy

Post-traumatic stress definition

Post-traumatic stress symptoms arise after an individual experiences a traumatic event. An experience is considered traumatic when it involves actual or possible death, serious injury or sexual violence. Witnessing or learning about these experiences can also be traumatic for people, especially if they happen to a close family member or friend, or if an individual is repeatedly exposed to these events as part of their job (e.g. paramedic, police officer). Examples of traumatic events include:

• car or other vehicle accidents
• physical violence
• sexual violence
• natural disasters, such as bushfires or floods
• experiences of war, torture and dislocation
• life-threatening or altering medical diagnoses
• the sudden death of a loved one

While the events that are considered traumatic are generally restricted to those that involve actual or possible death – as in the list above – it is becoming more accepted to refer to other distressing and/or life-changing events as traumatic. These traumas are sometimes referred to as ‘little t’ traumas (as opposed to ‘big T’ traumas, as in the list above). Although these ‘little t’ traumas might not involve actual physical death, they can involve experiences that overwhelm the emotional and psychological capacities of a child (e.g. neglect), or for adults, present a situation that threatens self-identity (e.g. infidelity, divorce) or the ability to support one’s self (e.g. loss of job, or health).

Post-traumatic stress statistics

Traumatic events are not uncommon within the population – a 2001 Australian National Mental Health Survey found a lifetime prevalence of exposure to traumatic events at 64.6% for men and 49.5% for women (Creamer et al., 2001). However, only a percentage of these individuals will go onto develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ recent survey on mental health and wellbeing estimates that only 10.7% of the Australian population will develop PTSD in their lifetime, with 5.7% of the population being diagnosed with PTSD in the last year (ABS, 2021). Some forms of trauma are related to higher rates of PTSD, for example, sexual assault survivors have a higher lifetime prevalence rate of PTSD than survivors of other traumas (Dworkin, 2020).

Post-traumatic stress signs and symptoms

A large percentage of people will experience signs of post-traumatic stress after a traumatic event. The signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress can include:

• Intrusive recollections of the event
• Difficulties concentrating, poor memory
• Anxiety
• Hypervigilance (e.g. jumping at noises, feeling like something bad is about to happen)
• Avoidance of reminders of the event
• Sleep difficulties, including nightmares
• Irritability, anger outbursts
• Low mood
• Numbness
• Detachment from others
• Loss of interest or pleasure in things
• Negative self-beliefs and feelings (e.g. guilt, shame)

For most individuals, these symptoms will fade in the weeks following the trauma. However, when these symptoms persist for longer than a month, a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder can be made.

Therapy for post-traumatic stress symptoms/ disorder

The goal of therapy for individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress symptoms – or PTSD – is to decrease the intensity of the emotional memory of the traumatic experience. Current Australian guidelines therefore recommend therapies that involve directly focusing on the traumatic event/s, as in the exposure therapy of cognitive behavioural therapy, or the memory work of eye movement and de-sensitisation reprocessing (EMDR). Other traumatic experiences that fall under the ‘little t’ trauma category can also be assisted by EMDR, or more experiential techniques like imagery rescripting.

For more information on how I support clients to process trauma memories and resolve post-trauma symptoms, please see my pages on trauma-informed feminist therapy, EMDR, and experiential techniques.