Esmée Chengapen

What is trauma?

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Trauma can be a single event, it can be a series of events, or it can be a set of enduring conditions. I have observed that it is more common for people to be traumatised in the context of enduring conditions. Then, the amygdala’s response to the charged memory overwhelms the individual’s capacity to cope whenever something similar happens. Often individuals are unable to verbalise what is happening, but their bodies can feel it.

 

With the advancements in neuroscience in the last decades, new treatment plans have been developed. They are more effective in working with the somatic and emotional legacy of trauma.

I use Relational Transactional Analysis which I integrate with Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR).

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Relational transactional analysis is a psychodynamic approach using the principles of transactional analysis and relational psychoanalysis. Transactional analysis founded by Eric Berne is an effective and powerful theory used to analyse how people communicate, both within themselves and with others. The aim of the therapy is to promote autonomy, which Berne defined as the release or recovery of awareness, spontaneity, and the capacity for intimacy.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy developed by Pat Ogden directly addresses the effects of trauma on the nervous system and body without the need to use touch. It utilises mindfulness techniques to facilitate resolution of trauma-related body responses first before attempting to re-work emotional responses.

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EMDR developed in the 1980s by Francine Shapiro, is today one of the most popular and well-researched methods of trauma treatment. Here is the link to an interview of an individual who benefited from the treatment of EMDR on Radio 4: The finger wagging cure