I have significant anxiety/PTSD-like symptoms, but I can’t think of big traumatic events in my life. Can EMDR Therapy still help me?
The definition of trauma has changed in recent times. Currently, it is defined as anything that overwhelms us psychologically. There are two types of trauma, one called “Big T” trauma, such as war, sexual abuse, rape, physical assault, major accidents, natural disasters, torture, etc. The other is called “small t” trauma, such as verbal, emotional, psychological abuse, childhood neglect, abandonment, smothering, difficult breakups and other forms of relational, attachment and childhood developmental traumas.
“Big T” traumas are generally highly intense and short-lived, often showing up as discrete events in a client’s trauma history. “Small t” traumas on the other hand can be of lower intensity that can go on for years. “Small t” traumas are no walk in the park and can cause significant post-traumatic stress symptoms, if not full-blown PTSD.
When it comes to attachment, relational and childhood developmental trauma, EMDR Therapy may need to be adapted to the client’s specific situation. I do practice a variation of EMDR called Attachment-Focused EMDR Therapy. We can discuss this more during our free phone consultation.