By P. Casey Arrillaga, LCSW, LCDC
Trauma-informed treatment for addiction and other mental health issues is considered the best form of treatment available today, to the point of being vital for someone to recover. In this post, we’ll consider what “trauma-informed” means, what makes it important, and how to determine if what is being offered really fits the bill.
What Does “Trauma-Informed Treatment” Mean?
The term “trauma-informed” may be the latest buzzword in the treatment field, but there’s a reason it’s become so popular. That’s because there is increasing awareness not only in the professional world, but also in the minds of the public, that trauma is very prevalent and can have profound negative effects on people. To understand this, it may help to start by saying that trauma involves experiences that feel threatening physically and emotionally, and is perpetuated by how our minds and bodies change their responses to the rest of our lives in an attempt to avoid having those experiences again. Traumatic experiences can be “big” and obvious, such as a terrorist attack, a life-threatening fire, severe abuse, or a combat experience in which death seemed likely. It may also come from experiences that are “smaller” and less obvious, but which occur over and over, leading to gradual rather than sudden changes in beliefs and reactions. Examples include bullying, neglectful parenting, or anything else that wears down a person’s sense of safety. Thus, trauma-informed treatment is help for addiction and other mental health issues that takes trauma into account as part of the healing process. It often makes addressing trauma foundational to the treatment.
What Makes Addressing Trauma Important in Recovery?
The links between trauma and mental health, especially addiction, are now recognized to be so profound that some professionals characterize addiction and some other mental health disorders as trauma reactions. While it is important to avoid oversimplifying complex disorders, research lends some credence to this. Addiction and other mental health disorders are not due to only one cause, but the factors all influence each other. For instance, genetics play a very large role in addiction, with current estimates saying that a person’s genes make up 40-60% of the reason they become addicted. That being said, genes are not fate. Instead, they determine tendency and potential. Genes may be thought of as a decision tree rather than a simple blueprint. This is because how our genes influence our behavior is based on the experiences we have and how we feel about those experiences. Genes that push us toward anxiety, depression, or addiction might “turn on” in a certain way when we go through trauma when they would have remained “off” if we had not experienced that traumatic event. For instance, someone with a strong family history of anxiety might be doing just fine in life if they manage to avoid any serious traumatic experiences, whereas their identical twin might develop a full-blown anxiety disorder that needs professional treatment because they went through bullying for years, perhaps without any of their family realizing it. Family members might be puzzled in such a case, even asking, “Why can’t you relax like your twin?” Same genetics, different outcomes.
Aside from the genetic influences, trauma often creates dramatic changes in how a person thinks about themselves and the world around them. For instance, trauma has been strongly linked to lowered self-esteem, difficulty trusting self and others, and distorted thinking about relationships, to name a few of the major effects. This maladaptive thinking creates emotional pressure in the brain, leading to feeling what some people call “uncomfortable in your own skin.” Chronic emotional discomfort and lowered self-esteem can show up as anger, depression, anxiety, self-pity, all the way up to extreme personality disorders and suicidality. When drug use and other addictive behaviors provide temporary relief, a traumatized person can understandably go for this quick fix, especially if they feel little hope that there is any other way to feel better. To make matters worse, the experience of addiction and other mental health disorders is often traumatic within itself. Thus, for a good number of people, recovery may seem forever out of reach until the trauma is sufficiently healed.
What Can Be Done?
Someone might reasonably ask, “If the trauma already happened and the genes already reacted, what can be done about it now, especially if the trauma happened years ago?” As it turns out, it’s never too late to address the effects of trauma in someone’s life. This is true for several reasons. First, our genes never stop reacting. That is to say, they will react positively to a decrease in emotional pressure, and that decrease is exactly the effect we find when trauma work it done successfully. Such a decrease can give hope that the relief someone has sought through addiction or other disordered behaviors can be had in a healthy way. This hope can be the turning point in someone’s life.
Second, there are a number of well-established trauma-resolution techniques. No one of them is perfect for everyone, so any trauma-informed treatment should offer options rather than trying to shoehorn every client into the same technique.
For instance, at Windmill Wellness Ranch, we offer all of following options:
To increase the chances of finding healing, many of these can be combined. Clients are screened to see which trauma-resolution techniques are most likely to be effective, and the clinical team collaborates on an ongoing basis to find the best fit for each client.
The Bottom Line
Trauma-informed treatment can make all the difference when it comes to finding help for you or someone you love. When looking at any trauma-informed treatment, make sure you are being offered many options and a collaborative, individualized approach.
About The Author
P. Casey Arrillaga is the Team Leader for Education at Windmill Wellness Ranch, and he is the author of books including “Realistic Hope: The Family Survival Guide for Facing Alcoholism and Other Addictions”. His books, podcast, videos, etc. can be found at CaseyAuthor.com
Created specifically for those who have loved ones that struggle with addiction.