One of the core tenets of my practice as a trauma therapist is that I won’t ask my clients to do anything that I haven’t tried. I don’t think it’s fair or makes sense to suggest something if I’ve only read about it in books or heard about it at a training. Having experienced it myself gives me greater insight into the risks of various techniques and a better sense of when I should—and shouldn’t—recommend something.
Because I’ve been in the field for a minute now, this means I’ve had the chance to try so many modalities and so many coping strategies. From meditation to EMDR, somatic practices to breathing, I’ve tried it. So let me share how they’ve worked for me! I’ll share three coping strategies and three healing methods.
Important to note: all of these strategies are evidence-based and work really well for some people! So when I share how I feel about something, please know that it’s just my experience, and yours may be different. It’s always important to try and see what works best for you!
Coping Strategy for Trauma vs. Trauma Healing Method
Before we begin, what do I mean when I say these two things?
When I say coping strategy, I’m referring to something that you can do either as a practice or in the moment to help manage the symptoms associated with trauma. The goal of these strategies is to provide tools that you can use as needed, but we do not expect these strategies to heal the trauma.
The trauma healing methods I refer to are things that we generally can’t use in the moment but have the overall goal of healing the trauma. When we do the processing, we start to see the impacts in how we feel, but we likely won’t see as immediate of a shift.
So, the coping strategies help us get through and manage our symptoms, while the healing methods help us work through the underlying trauma so that (in time) we don’t have the trauma symptoms at all.
Now that this is clarified, let’s jump into how I feel about various coping strategies and healing methods!
Coping strategies help us manage our symptoms, while healing methods help us work through the underlying trauma so that (in time) we don’t have the trauma symptoms at all.
Coping Strategy for Trauma: Mindfulness and Breathing
It may be odd to hear this coming from a counsellor, but I sometimes roll my eyes when people say to use breathing techniques and focus on mindfulness. Which is funny because I actually use this technique sometimes! My problem with mindfulness and breathing is that some folks over-inflate its role and see it as the solution to everything. And don’t get me wrong—it helps! Breathing can be a great tool to use in moments of stress and panic, and mindfulness is a great overall skill to help with triggers and flashbacks. For me, it’s about finding balance and using these tools when appropriate.
As such, you won’t find me offering this as an idea too often in therapy—only when I think it’s really going to make a difference. I often find that mindfulness is actually the result of trauma processing. The reason folks struggle to stay present is because they have flashbacks, triggers, hypervigilance, and anxiety that pull them to the past or future. Often, when we process the trauma, mindfulness follows.
So my overall thoughts? I’m meh on it! It has a role, but I’ll probably work with other techniques before turning here.
When we process the trauma, mindfulness follows.
Trauma Healing Method: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Ahh, EMDR. This section is basically a love note to EMDR. I tried EMDR for the first time during my EMDR training, where my partner and I took turns practicing on one another. She did a form of EMDR called Unrestricted, which basically meant I gave my training partner consent to open up the process and let it take me to any memories, feelings, or experiences that my nervous system wanted to go to. (Just a note that this is not generally where someone starts their processing. We usually start small with one particular event/moment and then build up—this was a unique case because we were in training.)
Doing the Unrestricted processing that day helped me connect dots between events, emotions, and beliefs that I didn’t realize were connected. Given that I tend to be very logical and thought I was quite self-aware, this experience really showed me how EMDR can bypass some of the blocks and defenses we put up and allow healing to happen in a new and unexpected way.
As a clinician, I also see how EMDR helps folks process trauma in a really unique way. When I first started using EMDR with clients, some folks I had been working with for years took sudden leaps and bounds due to EMDR. While it may not be suitable for everyone, I’m ultimately a big fan of EMDR, both personally and professionally.
EMDR can bypass some of the blocks and defenses we put up and allow healing to happen in a new and unexpected way.
Coping Strategy for Trauma: Exercise and Movement
Many influencers online tout movement and exercise as the cure for anxiety, stress, anger, depression… the list goes on and on. Some people say it’s a healing method, while others say it’s a coping mechanism. Let’s break that down!
I think it can be both, depending on how we engage with movement.
For example, Hillary McBride is a trauma researcher and clinician who helps people understand how to use movement to heal. She talks about being mindful, tuning into emotions, and allowing them to create movement in our bodies. This is using movement to process emotions. The other option is using movement as a way to step away from what might be happening in our world and to release some good, happy chemicals like endorphins.
Personally, I tend to use movement as a coping mechanism rather than a way to process (hence the header of this section). And I LOVE this coping mechanism. In fact, I found running so helpful that when COVID first started and lockdown happened, I ran so much as a stress management technique that I am still dealing with a foot injury from overuse. So, I personally think this coping mechanism is FANTASTIC, though I will add that you should listen to your body and stay within your limits (something I had to learn the hard way!).
Trauma Healing Method: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
If you’ve followed me and my work for a while, you probably have a sense of how I feel about this one. In short, I find that changing our thoughts (which is what Cognitive Behavioural Therapy aims to do) is not an effective way to manage trauma. Research shows that changing our thoughts does very little to shift trauma in a sustainable way.
I’m generally a pretty self-aware, smart person. I can think my way in circles and get so caught up in how I should feel that I forget I don’t feel that way! CBT reinforced patterns of mine that kept me in my head and prevented me from moving into my feelings and my body.
As a clinician, I find the same to be true for a lot of my clients. They know how they “should” think about a situation, but they need help embodying that experience, and CBT falls flat in supporting that work.
BUT! I do think thought restructuring can be a very safe place to begin trauma work. For example, if someone has extensive trauma, CBT and similar modalities can provide a good framework for touching into the trauma in a way that feels safe, controlled, and paced. So it has its place—but for me, not a method I choose to use personally or professionally too often.
Trauma Healing Method: Somatic Practices
Check out this blog to better understand what somatic processing is, but basically, “soma” means mind-body and recognizes that our mind and body are one and the same. We can't separate our thoughts, feelings, memories, experiences, and beliefs from our body. So, somatic practices help connect and integrate the mind and body for more complete processing and healing.
Somatic work is what I engage in most. Though I adore EMDR so, so deeply, my supervisor uses a lot of somatic approaches in their practice, so we tend to do this work together often. Generally, we start with a concern I’m having—this could be based on an experience or a thought. We then locate that in my body, and usually, there’s an image associated with it for me. From there, we work within that image, using my body’s responses to guide what I need next.
Sometimes these images are real—I might be feeling upset about something and actually see the situation in my mind. But most of the time, they’re metaphorical. The image I see and work within connects to my experience, but not in a strictly linear way.
The metaphorical nature of somatic work is why I love it for myself. Since I tend to be very brain-based and live in my head, I appreciate a practice that helps me step out of my thoughts and process things differently. I often gain insights I never would have reached if I had just stayed in my head about it. For me, somatic practices are a powerful way to process experiences in a way that feels contained and paced!
The metaphorical nature of somatic work is why I love it for myself. Since I tend to be very brain-based and live in my head, I appreciate a practice that helps me step out of my thoughts and process things differently.
Wrapping It Up: Finding the Right Trauma Healing Method for You
As cliche and dorky as it sounds, healing from trauma isn’t one-size-fits-all, and that’s the beauty of it. Whether you’re drawn to EMDR, parts work, or somatic practices, it can take time to find what works best for you. I’ve had the privilege of trying so many techniques and modalities, learning what works for me and my system. Some methods might feel like a perfect fit right away, while others may take time to grow on you—or not be the right approach at all. Knowing that part of the healing IS learning what is healing for you can help you be okay with trying lots of different things!
If you’re feeling stuck or unsure where to start, we have a team of trauma therapists here in Kamloops and online across BC that can help you learn what works -and doesn’t work- for you! Feel free to reach out with any questions and to get connected with a counsellor!
Part of healing is learning what is healing for you, so be okay with trying lots of different things!
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