Why You Need a Trauma Informed Therapist

Michael Dadson On Trauma Counselling and The Importance of Finding The Right Therapist

Trauma-Informed Care and Skilled Trauma Treatment

Trauma-informed care recognizes the effects of trauma and supports safety, choice and collaboration. Choosing treatment also involves asking about specific clinical training, experience and research support.

When choosing a therapist, ask about specific treatment training as well as trauma-informed care. Our guide to trauma therapy approaches explains methods, research foundations and how our therapists connect treatment with your goals.

Dr. Dadson underscores:

• Trauma-informed practice and specific trauma-treatment qualifications are related but different. Our therapists explain their relevant training, the approach they recommend, its evidence and alternatives. No approach can guarantee that PTSD will be prevented. You are welcome to ask about experience with concerns similar to yours and how progress will be reviewed.

A trauma informed therapist is aware of the various elements of trauma including recognizing the characteristics of traumatic stress such as the psychological impact, the impact on your body, and neurologically.

Trauma-related responses can affect emotions, physical arousal, memories and relationships. PTSD requires assessment of the type of exposure, the pattern and duration of symptoms, their impact on daily life and other possible explanations. Symptoms lasting more than one month do not, on their own, establish PTSD. You can seek support earlier when distress is severe or affecting your life.

Read the Public Health Agency of Canada’s explanation of PTSD and assessment.

Over several decades, Dr. Michael Dadson was at the forefront of researching and developing and competencies and effective treatment programs for trauma.

As a former board member of the University of British Columbia’s Centre of Group Therapy and Trauma, the International Society of Trauma and Dissociation, and the Clinical Director for Veterans Transition Network, Mike Dadson was responsible for creating a national team of psychologists and therapists trained in the recovery of trauma and group therapy as well as creating the educational model to train psychologists and counselors in group therapy and trauma on a global scale.

To read more on trauma follow the link to Dr. Mike Dadson’s main trauma page.

If you have questions about trauma counselling or finding a therapist, talk with our team at Gentle Currents Therapy in Langley. Our team can explain current counselling options and help you consider an appropriate next step.

Michael Dadson comments:

• As a trauma informed therapist, I can use interventions that can help resolve or calm down the response system so that those defensive responses subside, and the trauma memory becomes a memory that’s no longer alive. This means a memory about a past experience, that can be activated and brought into the present in with a felt sense of calm, comfort and safety with skilled, guidance and support. The goal is to resolve a traumatic memory so that becomes like any other memory. It is no longer an intrusive memory or a memory that haunts the person or comes in at unwelcome times in places, overwhelming the system again, or be troubling and activate the various defensive systems.

Dr. Mike Dadson identifies when it is critical to seek counseling when you are affected by a traumatic incident or you are suffering from PTSD:

3 Phases of Trauma Treatment