Trauma and Narrative Therapy (With Examples)

How Trauma and Narrative Therapy Can Help You Heal

Trauma and narrative therapy are closely connected for a very good reason. Narrative exposure therapy is an evidence-based, short-term intervention that provides trauma survivors with quick relief from their painful memories. It’s helpful for both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD symptoms) and other trauma disorders.

Icarus Behavioral Health, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, believes in taking a holistic, structured approach to treating PTSD symptoms. Our professional support helps people who have experienced trauma process the traumatic memories and enjoy better overall well-being. Our trauma-informed treatment approach is compassionate and effective.

We invite you to read this page for guidance on how our JCAHO-accredited recovery center provides safe, effective treatment for PTSD.

Traumatic Events and PTSD

Traumatic memories can overwhelm the brain’s ability to process information and cope with stress, leading to posttraumatic stress disorder, often called PTSD. However, not everybody who has experienced trauma will develop trauma-related distress.

A meta-analysis of 64 studies, which included over 32,000 participants, noted several influencing factors for PTSD. The factors included:

• The severity and proximity of the trauma
• Lack of social support
• The presence of additional mental health disorders
• Family dysfunction
• These life influences increase the risk of developing PTSD after traumatic events.

The Most Common Causes of Traumatic Memories

Many scenarios can lead to single or multiple traumas, including the following possible scenarios:

• Natural disasters can destroy life and change lives within minutes, often too fast for the mind to process. Victims may find themselves without a safe space or home, injured, or separated from loved ones.
• Accidents (car, plane, etc.) can leave people with mental and physical injuries and lead to vulnerability or fear about it happening again. We have treated people who walk everywhere and refuse to drive or ride in a car after a serious wreck.
• Violence can cause children and adult survivors to feel uncomfortable around others. At worst, it leads to long-term mistrust of others and makes them question the safety of the world around them. The perpetrators of violence can be random strangers, family members, or partners.
• Migration is dangerous and can cause asylum seekers to be trafficked, abused, and bankrupted by those who control the process. Those impacted may hesitate when discussing trauma because of the experiences of leaving their home and loved ones and the abuse along their journeys.

These are just a few of the most common situations we have encountered in clients. Many situations can trigger traumatic distress.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Versus Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Trauma brings a grave sense of loss into lives, regardless of whether the trauma stems from a single event or multiple traumatic events. That’s a distinguishing factor that separates PTSD and C-PTSD symptoms.

PTSD develops after a person has experienced a severe trauma related to a single, but negatively impactful, incident. It can disrupt the person’s ability to enjoy life and impair function.

PTSD Symptoms

Although disruptive, PTSD symptoms are less marked than those that come about from C-PTSD.

• Intrusive memories
• Avoidance of people or places related to the trauma
• Nightmares
• Flashbacks
• Exaggerated startle responses
• Moodiness or emotional outbursts
• Hypervigilance
• Can’t concentrate or focus; general decline in cognitive skills

Complex Posttraumatic stress disorder, often referred to as C-PTSD, results from prolonged or repeated exposure to traumatic events, typically over an extended period of time, both as a young person and as an adult. These events sometimes date back to childhood and can include witnessing domestic violence or being a victim of childhood abuse.

Research shows that people who struggle with C-PTSD have greater emotional challenges than those with PTSD.

Case Study: Olivia Survived a Violent Crime but Developed PTSD

‘Olivia,’ a young woman in her early 30s, came to Icarus in New Mexico for help with her post-traumatic stress disorder. She’d been carjacked in a violent incident 16 months before coming for treatment. The memory of a masked criminal lying in wait in her vehicle then putting a gun to the back of her head haunted her.

The painful memories reminded her of the fragility of her own life and caused her to constantly check her surroundings, even when she was safely in her home. The nightmares disrupted her sleep each night. But the worst part was how her posttraumatic stress had impacted her job as a healthcare worker at a rest home. When the loud bang of a dropped food tray reduced her to uncontrollable crying one day, her supervisor suggested she use the company’s insurance plan to get help.

After learning that outpatient PTSD treatment at Icarus would allow her to work and maintain her insurance while receiving care, Olivia chose our program for trauma survivors. The structured approach, including narrative therapy and prolonged exposure therapy, helped Olivia feel more in control of her safety. Learning new coping techniques also proved beneficial. She even learned how to do deep breathing, which she could do discreetly at work.

Olivia’s trauma disorder improved after she learned to rewrite her trauma story. She continues seeing a therapist one day a week. She has learned to savor every moment in life instead of fearing losing it. She’s recently been discussing trauma in public and hopes her advocacy efforts will help others heal.

C-PTSD Symptoms (Multiple Traumas)

The traumatic experiences associated with C-PTSD are part of a series of dysfunctional behaviors.

• All the symptoms of PTSD (as listed above)
• Loss of emotional regulation, including uncontrollable rage
• Poor self-esteem
• Difficulty with relationships
• Feeling a loss of control over one’s own life
• Questioning of personal identity

These symptoms are debilitating and will not go away without professional PTSD treatment.

Case Study: Noah Grew up with Severe Trauma from Childhood Abuse

‘Noah’ was 23 when he came to Icarus in Albuquerque. Having grown up in a dysfunctional household, he had almost no coping tools. He had grown experienced trauma since toddlerhood. He’d watched his parents physically fight after using drugs. Even worse, his father often turned his almost uncontrollable rage on his young son. His mother even once pulled him from school and took him on a road trip to avoid allowing educators to witness and report her son’s bruises.

The multiple traumatic events had taken a toll on his life. Noah left the family’s still-chaotic home the moment he turned 18. His part-time job at a convenience store didn’t pay enough to rent an apartment, so he couch-surfed or slept in his vehicle. He had complicated romantic relationships due to trauma, often wearing on the patience of his girlfriends because he was clingy and prone to emotional outbursts. He sometimes numbed the pain of his trauma with substances.

A Trauma Turning Point

Noah’s turning point came when his manager fired him for losing control of his emotions with a store customer. He’d threatened to “beat down” the customer for some comments that his low self-esteem took as an insult, and the customer called the police. Noah had a small bag of illicit pills in his pocket when the police arrived, and he received minor possession charges. Because Noah was a first-time offender, the judge ordered him to attend therapy for his trauma and mild drug addiction.

At first, Noah couldn’t even pinpoint his worst moments during narrative therapy. Multiple traumas had impacted him since he could remember. Our clinician prescribed an FDA-approved medication to calm his brain, and the therapists took a multi-pronged approach to his care. Noah received EMDR therapy and narrative therapy and worked on his life skills for several weeks. He made great strides, and he continued to grow stronger with each passing day.

After treatment, Noah felt proud of his accomplishments. The judge dropped the misdemeanor charges upon completion, giving him a clean slate. Noah has found a new job and has rented a room from a new co-worker. He plans to work his way up in his new company and is hopeful for a better future.

Narrative Exposure Therapy

Narrative exposure therapy (NET) has been studied and evaluated in randomized controlled trials, which have proven it effective in treating PTSD.

A meta-analysis of 18 trials found that NET led to a moderate reduction in PTSD-related symptoms, making it a reliable short-term intervention. A meta-regression analysis also noted the heterogeneity of the trial and recommended additional research into narrative exposure therapy.

Narrative exposure therapy uses elements of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and helps clients construct a chronological narrative of their life story, including the traumatic events. They give as much detail as possible over several sessions. This comprehensively documented autobiography frames the narrative in a cohesive, understandable order instead of the trauma story events unfolding in a jumbled mess.

The therapist helps the client dig deeper into re-experienced trauma within this complete autobiography. They provide a safe space where the client can reprocess the events while maintaining emotional regulation. The counselor also asks those suffering from PTSD to transform their thoughts about these sensory memories from painful memories into stories of strength and survival.

As they engage in processing their life story and bringing a more positive light to the narrative though narrative exposure therapy, they begin separating their personal identity from the trauma.

Other Evidence-Based Treatments

Narrative exposure therapy is rarely used alone in treating trauma. Writing the trauma narrative provides short-term relief from PTSD, while other trauma disorder treatments provide long-lasting results.

Here are some additional psychological techniques that offer effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a structured psychotherapy that helps modify any untrue or unhelpful thoughts contributing to poor mental health, including PTSD. The therapist helps individuals suffering from PTSD as they work on self-reflection and change to a more positive mindset, and reshape the trauma narrative.

Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PET)

Prolonged exposure therapy is a type of CBT. A therapist asks a client to engage in repeated real-life exposure to trauma triggers to reduce fear or avoidance behaviors. PET has proven highly effective in both combat veterans and people impacted by terrorism.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

Cognitive processing therapy challenges and changes negative beliefs about the trauma, with the goal of developing more balanced views of the traumatic events. The therapist guides the client in the exposure process while they address the distorted thoughts about the traumatic experience and adopt healthier thinking. The reprocessed information is less intrusive than the original line of thinking.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR combines elements of exposure therapy with guided eye movements to reduce the impact of the traumatic experience. Besides calming the psychological impacts of trauma-related stress, EMDR also eases the physiological responses, such as increased heart rate or sweating.

One or more of these long-term treatment approaches integrate with narrative exposure therapy (NET) to achieve lasting relief from trauma.

We Treat Each Person’s Trauma by Their Individual Needs

Icarus follows the latest scientific data and research, ensuring that each person receives proven therapy to heal the wounds left by the traumatic experience.

We start with a thorough clinical evaluation and assessment, making recommendations about therapy based on the trauma narrative you share with us. We appreciate that you entrust us to help you heal after experiencing the worst moments of your life, and we commit to excellent support and professional guidance.

We offer a full continuum of care and can address the traumatic experience and any related disorders that have emerged from the trauma. It’s not uncommon for people with trauma to also have substance abuse, anxiety, or depression. Our prime directive is to facilitate safe, effective treatment for lasting trauma healing.

Continued Healing After Professional Therapy

After you complete your formal treatment, you will continue the healing process on your own with the support of a robust aftercare plan from our team. You’ll learn to integrate the coping skills of therapy into your daily life and continue your progress to prevent a relapse into negative thought patterns.

Some of the things you can do to make your treatment more “sticky” include these:

Find a Local Community Peer Group

Attend local peer groups in safe community settings. These can be local PTSD support groups or SMART Recovery meetings, which help you continue skill-building. The National Center for PTSD advises that social connections significantly reduce any lingering symptoms.

Resist Negative Social Forces

Your healing requires consistent maintenance. A healthy social environment is a must, because negativity can trigger the distressing thoughts surrounding your trauma. Avoid toxic relationships, unnecessary stress, or people who use substances as coping tools.

Journal Writing

A journal is a safe, confidential space to explore your deepest thoughts. Your trauma narrative may change after treatment, and the pages of your journal can serve as a confidante.

Be sure to take a moment to download our PDF 15 Effective Journal Prompts for After PR=TSD Therapy.

The free writing prompts you will find are these:

1. How has your perception of trauma changed since narrative exposure therapy?
2. Explain how you’ve reclaimed control of your trauma narrative and new meaning you’ve found in life.
3. Who are you today, outside of the trauma?
4. Describe the people who have positively impacted your healing journey and how they’ve supported you.
5. What does your trauma-free future look like today?
6. What life lessons have you learned through the trauma-healing process?
7. How have you felt since shedding old negative beliefs and upgrading to a positive POV?
8. Describe your ideal symbol of strength and courage.
9. Think back to PTSD treatment. At what moment did you know you were making progress and how did you feel?
10. Visualize what it felt like to release your emotional baggage – describe it.
11. Write yourself a note, encouraging you to stay on the path to a healthy life after trauma treatment.
12. Describe an environment where you feel safe and at peace.
13. What boundaries have you set – or need to set – to continue making progress?
14. Who inspires you to keep healing and growing…and why?
15. Congratulate your future self in 5 years on the progress and growth you’ve made.

As you continue moving forward after treatment, journaling and our other trauma processing worksheets can help reinforce the skills learned in therapy and helps identify areas that may still benefit from treatment.

Adopt Healthy Self-Care Strategies

Self-care practices help you reinforce emotional stability and improve your well-being. You send a clear message to yourself: You’re worth the effort. Some ways to show yourself some love are daily exercise, eating healthy meals, and getting enough restful sleep.

You can dive deeper and add mind-body self-treatments like deep breathing or meditation to your at-home routine. Look online for a local class or find a video series to master these techniques.

Contact Icarus New Mexico for Narrative Trauma PTSD Treatment

If you believe that narrative treatment and our other specialized care can help you overcome PTSD, call us today. Our admissions team can provide guidance on the next steps. They’ll also help you navigate your insurance plan, ensuring you receive the maximum allowable coverage.

We are here to help you overcome trauma’s impacts and empower you to live life to the fullest. Reach out to our caring team at Icarus in New Mexico, today. All calls are confidential, so please reach out with confidence to get the support you need and deserve.