Trauma is a common reason for people to start using drugs or alcohol. Substances can ease the emotional pain, numbing the feelings associated with trauma. People often turn to drugs and alcohol as a way to escape or avoid difficult emotions related to their traumatic experiences.

However, using substances in reaction to trauma can come with serious consequences. Substance use can lead to physical and mental health problems, interpersonal conflicts, legal troubles, and financial issues. In addition, substance use can interfere with treatments for trauma, such as counseling and therapy.

For those struggling with substance use, trauma-informed treatment is available. Trauma-informed care involves recognizing the impact of traumatic events on someone’s life and how these experiences shape a person’s mental health. This type of care looks at the whole person—including their thoughts, behaviors, and physical health—and provides comprehensive treatment that incorporates evidence-based therapies. Trauma therapy programs in Treasure Island substance rehab can be essential to make important insight into one’s own substance use. 

At Footprints Beachside Recovery, trauma counseling is a common part of customized substance treatment. We’re committed to helping you clarify the ways past traumas negatively impact your drug or alcohol use. And we’re just as committed to helping you ease trauma’s effects as you work toward your recovery goals. Call us at 727-954-3908 today to learn more.

What Is Trauma?

Trauma is an emotional response to a disturbing event, trauma can be caused by a single event or it can be the result of ongoing exposure to stressful situations. Traumatic events may include physical, sexual, or emotional abuse; natural disasters; and accidents. Trauma can cause symptoms such as intrusive thoughts about the event, flashbacks, numbness, dissociation, difficulty sleeping, and difficulty regulating emotions.

At Footprints Beachside Recovery, we recognize that trauma is unique to each person who experiences it. We offer a variety of evidence-based approaches to help you understand and cope with the traumatic events in your life. Our experienced therapists will provide support and guidance as you work through the healing process at your own pace

Trauma’s Short- And Long-Term Effects 

Trauma is a natural human reaction with short- and sometimes long-term effects. It typically follows events that do such things as: 

• Distress you deeply 
• Make you feel that you could die at any moment 
• Leave you exposed to other people’s life-or-death struggles 

In the seconds, minutes, and hours following trauma exposure, you may experience a range of emotional responses. The list of these feelings commonly includes fear and panic. It can also include helplessness, confusion, and a loss of connection with reality. 

Even the most severe traumas may start to lose their hold on you in a few days or weeks. The longer your post-trauma reactions linger, the greater the odds they will affect you in unforeseen and significantly damaging ways.  

Understanding the Need for a Trauma Therapy Program During Rehab 

One of the most well-documented potential consequences of long-term trauma is increased substance use. You may also start drinking or taking drugs for the first time in your life. Why? Drug- and alcohol-related euphoria can temporarily dull the impact of trauma on your mental state. You may knowingly or unknowingly try to use this effect to your advantage. 

But by its very nature, substance-based euphoria wears off. To keep experiencing it, you may find yourself drinking or taking drugs:  

• More often 
• In increasing amounts 

However, rising tolerance to the substance in question can make it even harder to experience euphoria. As a result, you may accelerate your drug or alcohol use even further. For many people, this chain of events leads to addiction. It can also lead to a clear need for trauma counseling. 

The Benefits of Therapy for Trauma 

The goal of a trauma therapy program is to help you escape the lingering shadow of past traumatic events. Effective programs achieve this goal in multiple ways. First, they establish which sources of trauma may be influencing your drug or alcohol use. They then help you limit the impact of these sources on your current behavior. 

To achieve this objective, therapy for trauma may focus on your everyday thoughts and feelings. Over time, you learn how to react and think in ways that don’t activate your substance cravings. You may also directly confront your past traumas with assistance from your therapist. By doing so, you can potentially rob these traumas of their power to cause you pain and distress. 

Call Footprints Beachside Recovery Now

Trauma therapy programs are commonly used resources for addiction treatment. With their help, you can better understand how you developed a substance problem. You can also reduce the lingering impact of the past on your current thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. 

Do you or your loved one need a trauma therapy program in Treasure Island, FL? The specialists at Footprints Behavioral Recovery are on your side. Just call us today at 727-954-3908 for more information. We’re also available online.