One apt way to describe the phenomenon of trauma is a normal reaction to an abnormal amount of stress. However, everyone experiences trauma differently. For example, an event you view as deeply traumatic, such as coming home to find thieves have broken into your house, may not be troubling for your spouse. Similarly, an event you didn’t initially find to be traumatic can return to haunt you after you’ve had a chance to process it.
What Is Trauma-Informed Care?
Trauma-informed care means treating the whole person, accounting for her past trauma and the coping behaviors she has developed to protect herself.
What makes an approach like trauma-informed care so valuable? Consider the example of the treatment many rape victims experience. When these women come forward to report their assault, people might not believe them unless they are highly emotional about describing what happened to them. However, for many victims, distancing themselves from the emotional pain they are feeling is a desperate attempt to cope. These women might be reluctant to tell any authority figures about what happened to them, preferring to downplay the event instead.
People who have never experienced trauma may have trouble appreciating how disruptive it can be in a victim’s life. Even if they want to be empathetic, they lack the context to understand what trauma survivors are going through. That’s why it can be so helpful for people who have lived through trauma to find therapy that gives them the best possible chance of recovery.
The Association Between Trauma and Substance Misuse
Many people who develop substance abuse problems, especially women, have a history of trauma. For long-term trauma survivors who have suffered in silence, substance misuse may begin as a misguided survival skill – a way to muffle the internal turmoil they are feeling. However, women frequently progress into addiction more quickly than men, making their situation unstable after only a short period of drug or alcohol use.
Trauma-informed care respects recovering addicts for the pain they have experienced in their lives, and treats them as individuals who deserve health and happiness just as much as everyone else. It also provides them with a road map for healing by teaching them ways to replace self-destructive behavior with life-affirming new habits.
Find the Compassionate Care You Seek
Trauma in and of itself can be a tremendously complicated mental condition. When you add drugs and alcohol to the equation, the situation can spiral out of control even more rapidly. If you have been struggling to overcome an upsetting experience and got caught up in the cycle of addiction, you need to find a treatment facility that offers help for women experiencing trauma and substance abuse.
At Canyon Crossing, we offer gender-specific addiction recovery services that take the unique needs of women into account. To learn more about starting your healing journey at our Prescott, AZ facility, please reach out to us today. We understand what you are going through, and we don’t want you to struggle another day.
