How difficult is it to find a trauma specialized therapist

[piratelady]

My therapist, when I searched for him, he doesn’t put himself out there as a trauma specialist, but he has been incredibly helpful in treating my ptsd. When I first considered him, I told him I had ptsd and asked if he had experience with that. He said yes. I guess my point is, it’s worth having a conversation in case they don’t advertise their experience with trauma.

That being said, when I tried looking for a different therapist, I went to one that put himself out there as trauma focused and he was absolutely terrible and incompetent. So, just because they say they’re good at something doesn’t mean that they are.

 

[Ronin]

Depends your type of trauma.

My specific? Very goddamn difficult. The few that exist are usually on another continent I don't have long term insurance of as not a citizen.

But if your complex trauma is something simpler, like repeated one stuff or common like DV / sex violence, might have more luck.

 

[airdog]

I found my T by the purest luck ever. We had some mutual friends who invited me to join a mutual shared interest and I met my T during that activity. The more I got to know him in the dojo, the more I knew I needed to see him professionally as the only T I'd ever met who actually KNEW what I was dealing with. Turns out, he's a trauma and attachment specialist who'd been in practice for over 40 years. I've been seeing him for at least 7 years now, and DREAD the day when we need to part company. While he's spot-on with trauma work, he doesn't have much experience with Autistic individuals, so we've had to do some work together to figure out how THAT affects my trauma, but that's been a big part of growing the therapeutic relationship. I'd been through several other T's in my life, and none of us connected the way I do with my current T. When it's time to shop for a new T I now have a better idea of what I'm looking for.

Specialists are worth their weight in gold, but claiming "specialties" means jack. Look for experience and longevity in the special areas, certifications, and in-depth knowledge in the area you need work in. I can't tell you how many "specialists" I've met who had really just read "The Body Keeps The Score" and thought that made them a guru on trauma. It's true that the relationship is everything (I wouldn't be able to work with this current guy if we didn't have a real connection outside of therapy first), but the fact that he's a true expert in this field of specialty makes all the difference. I'm so grateful I found this guy, but I know how rare it is to find real help. Good luck on the search!

Thanks for your reply and I find it all the more interesting because I met another person who's been stabbed several times while at war and he was saying basically the same thing, i.e. that the only therapist who really helped him had PTSD himself (so was the victim of trauma and was a veteran).
So it would seem that the best possible alternative is to find a trauma victim who has become a therapist. The problem of course is how likely is that to happen to me!
As I also agree that talking with them beforehand is not really useful as in the few minutes you're talking over the phone they can claim anything they want and say anything they like but all that doesn't really mean much. I once met a therapist who was apparently famous as she was supposed to be a specialist (was specialized in going in after catastrophes (earthquakes, floodings, etc) but after 15 mins or so I realized that she had absolutely no idea what trauma was and what she was talking about.

 

[Friday]

My trauma history isn’t common for the region I live in, so it is/was very difficult finding someone to work with. In other areas I’ve lived, you can’t swing a cat without knocking into people who are both highly trained & experienced in exactly what I need help with. I’m lookin for a teacher, not a friend, so that’s my bottom line.

@joeylittle ’s tip/trick about looking up people who are certified in trauma modalities, like EMDR, is a wicked good one. Because “I stubbed my toe!” :rolleyes: is not trauma, but try telling the public that.

 

[Ronin]

@airdog That may be entirely dependent on how skilled you're at interviewing others, though.

Even how people present credentials tells you a lot.

Or at least something - where not a lot.

And yeah - disaster response psychological help & trauma in the attachment sense & people-caused maay be wee bit different type of work. Doesn't mean they know jack all about trauma. Just not the subset and from the angle your trauma is hailing from.

 

[airdog]

My trauma history isn’t common for the region I live in, so it is/was very difficult finding someone to work with. In other areas I’ve lived, you can’t swing a cat without knocking into people who are both highly trained & experienced in exactly what I need help with. I’m lookin for a teacher, not a friend, so that’s my bottom line.

@joeylittle ’s tip/trick about looking up people who are certified in trauma modalities, like EMDR, is a wicked good one. Because “I stubbed my toe!” :rolleyes: is not trauma, but try telling the public that.

Actually, but that's another subject altogether, I noticed while browsing places such as Twitter and Reddit that there's trauma and then there's trauma. And by reading on those medias you get the impression that it's "in" to be traumatized and that everybody and their sisters and brothers and the whole family is traumatized.
Reminds me of this story I heard on a respectable radio station (CBC Canada) about this young girl who witnessed on 9/11 people running away from the Trade Center passing in front of her school door and apparently many years later was drug dependent and always suffering from depression and blaming it all on PTSD and that event.
Now I know that everydoby's different and that the same event will cause different reactions in different people but I can tell you that personally I went through much much worse than that.
So again, while I recognize that we're all different, let's not trivialize trauma, it's no favor for those of us who have experienced heavy trauma.

 

[RubyBlue]

Actually, but that's another subject altogether, I noticed while browsing places such as Twitter and Reddit that there's trauma and then there's trauma. And by reading on those medias you get the impression that it's "in" to be traumatized and that everybody and their sisters and brothers and the whole family is traumatized.
Reminds me of this story I heard on a respectable radio station (CBC Canada) about this young girl who witnessed on 9/11 people running away from the Trade Center passing in front of her school door and apparently many years later was drug dependent and always suffering from depression and blaming it all on PTSD and that event.
Now I know that everydoby's different and that the same event will cause different reactions in different people but I can tell you that personally I went through much much worse than that.
So again, while I recognize that we're all different, let's not trivialize trauma, it's no favor for those of us who have experienced heavy trauma.

I get what you are saying and agree to a point. I would be careful in this line of thinking. You don’t know what other factors she had leading up to and after that contributed to her reaction to trauma- and it is a very valid form of trauma. There are plenty of people who do use something most would see as trivial as a “trauma” and we are like huh?

But the other side of the coin is several people who have been deeply traumatized and don’t realize that it actually is genuine trauma. Or the people like me who were deeply traumatized and used people like you to continue to discount it in my brain to avoid seeking help. You will find there are many people that come on here who don’t feel their trauma counts when it absolutely does.

 

[airdog]

I get what you are saying and agree to a point. I would be careful in this line of thinking. You don’t know what other factors she had leading up to and after that contributed to her reaction to trauma- and it is a very valid form of trauma. There are plenty of people who do use something most would see as trivial as a “trauma” and we are like huh?

But the other side of the coin is several people who have been deeply traumatized and don’t realize that it actually is genuine trauma. Or the people like me who were deeply traumatized and used people like you to continue to discount it in my brain to avoid seeking help. You will find there are many people that come on here who don’t feel their trauma counts when it absolutely does.

Not sure what you mean by "used people like me", what kind of people am I?

And again, what you're saying is right and I actually belonged to that category for a long time (people with heavy trauma who don't even recognize it), for instance I was (for reasons that are too long to mention here) often bullied at school but only very recently realized that I was in fact bullied (for me that was just "going to school"). But then compared to my other traumas (which I only much later realized were traumas) bullying was relatively speaking so trivial that I didn't really pay attention to that.

And I did say in my original answer that it very well could be a trauma for that lady but somewhere also I still think that there's a question of degree somewhere. For instance it's been proven during both word wars that a high percentage of those submitted to specific forms of trauma have a very high chance of developing PTSD.

But that's a delicate discussion and maybe we should drop it here because it can easily veer into dangerous territories.

 

[RubyBlue]

It is very delicate. What I mean by use people like you is:

I have extensive CSA, but I denied it being as such. And I would use words from others (what I mean by you) that well I wasn’t dying, I wasn’t being stabbed (just an example) so it doesn’t count and people with “real” trauma is would look down on me and the fact that I’ve developed CPTSD from it. I’m not meaning it in a mean way, just that people internalize our words and fit it to themselves and while you can’t be responsible for others, it’s just good to be mindful that when it comes to trauma (as it currently stands) there isn’t a degree.

Another me example- I have several traumas. One is watching a person I loved die, another is the years of CSA I mentioned, the death affected me much much more but the CSA would be considered “worse”.

 

[RubyBlue]

Headed back into work for a couple of hours

 

[Friday]

But that's a delicate discussion and maybe we should drop it here because it can easily veer into dangerous territories.

***Moderator Note***

The OP (quoted above) has asked that this off-topic discussion be dropped.

Anyone who would like to continue to discuss trauma types unrelated to finding a therapist, Qualifying CritA Trauma -vs- Colloquial “Trauma” Definitions, the highly opinionated & often lengthy ‘n complicated discussion of “worse”, Trauma Avoidance / “Not That Bad”, Whether you’re more affected by your qualifying traumas, later traumas, or non-qualifying events, or any other aspect of the preceding tangent....

...Is totally welcome to start their own thread! :D

They’re great topics. But they do need their own space to be handled in any kind of sensible way, or to really do them justice.

So let’s keep this thread on topic, please.

As always, if you wish to reply to this post, please do NOT reply in thread, but give us a shout over at Contact Us

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread. ;)