Traumatic events usually come out of the blue. Accidents, illnesses, disasters, assault, combat, sexual, emotional, and physical abuse are all events which are potentially traumatic. Such events can leave us feeling shocked, disorientated, and distressed. We may feel like our world has been turned upside down.
It is important to emphasise that there are no right or wrong ways to react after a traumatic experience. Everyone’s reactions will be individual and not everybody will experience all of the feelings described above, nor experience them to the same degree.
Individual reactions will vary from those of other people for a number of reasons, including:
People also vary in terms of:
Our counsellors are skilled at listening to people and can offer you valuable help in working through trauma and what it means to you, and in rebuilding your lives. One of the most important aspects of trauma is recognising that life for you has changed and your old ways of looking at the world sometimes don’t seem to make much sense anymore. Sometimes you have to rethink the ways in which you live your life and what is important to you. You need to take time to reflect on what you have learned from your experiences. Working with our experienced counsellor can give you the opportunity to do this.