Everyone heals from trauma at their own pace and in their own way.
At Trauma Treatment Center (TTC), we have seen people who react to trauma in many different ways. How you manifest trauma, and how you recover, are personal journeys, but you don’t have to go down the road alone.
Although we reach them differently, It is important to recognize the milestones that mark the road to recovery. The Mind Body Transformation Model (MBTM) has three distinct treatment phases.
At TTC we work with our younger patients and their caretakers to mark specific phases of trauma recovery. Summarized here (from a scholarly report on MBTM in the Journal of Counselor Practice, co-authored by TTC’s own Cortny Stark), you can see the path we follow:
Phase 1: Assessment, Establishing Safety, Developing Resources, and Normalizing Responses
The initial sessions of MBTM focus on establishing the safety of the counseling environment and building rapport with the child and the caregiver.
Phase one therapeutic interventions include EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) resources such as square breathing (deep breathing). Using books and stories, the counselor guides the child and the caregiver to explore how to contextualize past traumatic events and current triggers.
During this initial phase of treatment, Theraplay activities may be introduced as a means of enhancing the attachment bond between the child and the caregiver. These play-based activities provide the structure and boundaries necessary to ensure safety in the relationship and in the therapeutic space.
Phase 2: Maintaining Safety, Containing Distress, Reprocessing, and Collaborating
Phase two of the recovery process builds on the resources developed during phase one, while emphasizing building a safety net for the child that enables them to coregulate and cope when confronted with stressors. This includes identifying safe members of the caregiving system to whom the child can go when in need of support.
Coregulation skills are further developed and may include the caregiver verbally acknowledging when the child seems to be struggling with emotions and prompting a strategy such as stretching, engaging in deep breathing, or shaking it off. The strategies provide the child and the caregiver with tools to cope with the difficult emotions and body sensations that accompany trauma processing.
In preparation for processing traumatic material, the counselor assists the child in crafting a handmade “trauma container.” When the container is completed, the counselor asks the child to imagine putting all of their distressing feelings, thoughts, and body sensations into the container. Some children write or draw their worries and feelings and place these in the container. At the end of each processing session, the child is asked to put any distress or big feelings into their container so that they may leave the session with all memories and distress contained.
Phase two includes the bulk of trauma processing, organized through the use of a targeting plan. The child and caregiver are asked to draw and/or write significant events in the child’s life on their timeline. After all significant life events have been recorded, the child is asked to rate each life event on a scale of one to ten, with ten being very difficult or distressing, and one being no distress at all. The counselor then takes the most distressing life events and organizes a targeting plan for EMDR processing.
Phase 3: Reconnection, Future Templating, and Identity Development
The final phase of the MBTM includes processing the remaining distressing experiences. The positive cognition is identified and counters the negative appraisal the client self-developed as a result of a traumatic experience. One of the aims is to ensure that the client believes their positive cognition with certainty. Once the child identifies the validity of their positive cognition as a seven on a scale of one (being completely false) to seven (being completely true), future templating may begin.
The child and caregiver are asked to consider future situations when the child might be confronted with reminders of the traumas that were processed using EMDR. The counselor asks the child how they would like to manage the experience differently now that they believe their positive cognition.
This activity, like all EMDR processing protocols, ends with the counselor verbally walking the child through a body-scan exercise. This structured exercise supports the child’s exploring where in their body any remaining trauma-related distress is held. Collaboration with the caregiver regarding the child’s experience during this phase is essential, as the caregiver has the opportunity to share the experience with the child in and out of session.
During phase three, the child and the caregiver process feelings of grief and loss, working to derive meaning from the adverse experiences that motivated them to seek treatment.
Yoga and/or occupational therapy may co-occur with the therapeutic process or begin during this phase. The transition to body-focused work enables the child to reconnect with aspects of the physical self that may have been dissociated during the trauma.
One of the final focus areas of MBTM involves the counselor supporting the child and the caregiver as they explore how trauma has impacted the child’s sense of self, from the internalization of negative beliefs associated with the trauma to the fragmentation of self and dissociative coping strategies.
Interventions may include providing the caregiver with psychoeducation about child development and encouraging the continuation of therapeutic activities in the home environment. Theraplay activities remain a staple both in session and as homework. The continued practice of these activities increases the frequency of nurturing attachment-enhancing interaction.
Trauma Treatment Center Can Be Your Guide Through the Stage of Trauma Recovery
If you would like more information about how the Trauma Treatment Center could help you or someone in your care, please contact us.