What are the Main Types of Therapy for Trauma?

There are so many types of therapy out there that it can feel overwhelming when you’re trying to pick just one. Trying to narrow it down can feel stressful and draining for many trauma survivors. Luckily, there’s no ONE right way to do therapy. When you know how to filter through the options and recognize what you need, you can easily choose what you’ll benefit from most.

Certain healing techniques work better for different people based on their history, symptoms, and personal treatment goals. Here’s everything you need to know about trauma therapy that can help you heal:

What is Trauma and Why You Should Consider Therapy

Trauma isn’t just about the event you experienced. It’s also about how you feel and how your brain (and sometimes body) responds to those feelings. Trauma can be caused by a singular incident that happened to you. But it can also result from repeated exposure to something that stresses you out or threatens your overall feeling of safety.

Trauma symptoms can affect your brain and nervous system. When you experience stress, your body produces cortisol and adrenaline (aka stress hormones). These chemicals signal your body to go into “fight-or-flight” mode. Chronic stress from trauma can make you constantly feel like you’re in fight-or-flight mode. You may experience persistent anxiety, feel like you can’t unwind and release stress, or aren’t able to relax. Trauma therapy can help you work through all of these trauma symptoms.

Common symptoms of trauma you may experience if you don’t receive treatment include:

Insomnia
Nightmares
Panic attacks
Negative self-image
Self-doubt
Feeling disconnected from friends and family
Loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy
Engaging in risky behaviors
Hyper-vigilance
Irritability
Emotional numbing
Flashbacks
Physical pain (headaches, nausea, chest pain, etc.)

Trauma can also affect your brain. Stress from trauma can impact the areas of your brain responsible for your memory, emotional regulation, and decision-making. This can explain symptoms like confusion, irritability, and extreme feelings of distress.

While trauma healing can take more than journaling about your experiences, therapy can help. Trauma is treatable when you seek the right therapy and support. Going to therapy for trauma allows you to regain your sense of safety. You’ll work towards building resiliency and healing yourself from depression, anxiety, or whatever else you’re experiencing because of your trauma.

Types of Therapy for Trauma

There are many different types of trauma therapy out there that can help you recover. Below are several trauma treatment types that are backed by research and used frequently by experienced mental health professionals. If you’re searching for therapy for yourself, there’s an approach that will work with your needs.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a short-term, structured type of talk therapy. It focuses on uncovering negative thought patterns and changing them. When treating trauma, a therapist who practices CBT will help you find destructive beliefs about yourself or the trauma you experienced. (“I’m weak.” “It was my fault.”) Through therapy, you’ll learn how to combat these thoughts with coping skills and manage things like guilt, anxiety, triggers, and upsetting thoughts.

CBT can be used to treat:

Anxiety
Stress
PTSD
Depression
Intrusive thoughts
CBT might suit you if you:
Need structure
Want something practical
Like talk therapy that focuses on your thought and behaviors
Need ways to cope with traumatic triggers and memories

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR therapy is a treatment method that uses guided eye movement to help your brain reprocess traumatic events. This treatment has been around for decades and is often used to treat PTSD. If you have flashbacks related to your trauma or feel emotionally numb, EMDR might help you. A study of over 20 randomized EMDR trials showed how it reduced PTSD symptoms.

EMDR can be used to treat:

PTSD
Severe flashbacks
Emotional numbing
Mood and well-being
You may benefit from EMDR if you:
Have recurring flashbacks
Find yourself constantly reliving your trauma
Don’t want to “talk” about your trauma in therapy
Are open to guided eye movement

Somatic Therapy

Trauma can also be held in your body. Somatic healing helps you understand how your body reacts to trauma and holds onto tension. Through somatic therapy, you’ll learn about body awareness and breathwork. You may even explore gentle movements to help release tension you’ve been holding on to from your trauma.

There are a few types of somatic therapy, like somatic experiencing (SE) and sensorimotor psychotherapy. SE focuses on noticing bodily sensations you experience because of trauma. This could look like trembling, tension, or shaking. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is similar to SE but consists of talk therapy. You’ll focus on your posture, movements, and tension when talking about your traumatic experience. You’ll learn mindfulness exercises and gentle movements to release trauma from your body.

Both somatic therapy techniques help you heal through means other than talking. If you get overwhelmed easily when processing trauma, this may be great option for you. Another benefit of somatic therapies is they can help relieve physical pain. Many who have practiced SE report less chronic pain along with emotional relief.

Somatic therapies can help you:

Release trauma from your body
Regulate your emotions
Calm your nervous system
Reduce anxiety

Suit you if you:

Want to work with your body to heal from trauma
Have a hard time putting your emotions into words
Find it difficult to talk about the memories of your trauma
Experience stress-related pain

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

IFS is a type of therapy based on the idea that you have many different parts of yourself. Some parts may be playful; others may be strong. Some of your parts may even be wounded or feel like your protector. When you go through trauma, your wounded self carries the pain. Other aspects of yourself will work to protect you from the pain. IFS therapy can help you heal from trauma by allowing you to converse with these different parts of yourself. Research on IFS therapy shows it’s effective for trauma treatment.

IFS can help you:

Identify the parts of yourself
Learn how to calm your inner critic
Heal your wounded inner child
Feel peaceful and accepting of yourself
This healing technique might be great if you:
Harshly criticize yourself
Feel overwhelmed by your emotions
Want to explore yourself on a deeper level
Are interested in healing parts work
Practice other holistic healing methods

Narrative Therapy

Want to learn how to retell your story? Narrative therapy focuses on reshaping your story and taking back your power. As you unpack your trauma and the story you’ve told yourself about what happened, you’ll gain tools to separate your identity from experience. Narrative therapy can help you challenge the belief system you created surrounding your trauma.

You can heal from your trauma by discovering new meanings in life. Studies have shown that narrative exposure therapy can eliminate PTSD symptoms, which are common after trauma.

If you struggle with feeling shame, worthless, or stuck, narrative therapy might be able to help you feel empowered and resilient again.

Narrative therapy can:

Help you understand your story
Allow you to find catharsis
Build your sense of agency
Empower you
Help you build self-awareness
Develop resilience

Narrative therapy is great for you if:

You thrive in therapy that has a creative, story-based approach
Want to disconnect your trauma from your identity
Love journaling
Benefit greatly from self-reflection

Trauma-Informed Mindfulness and Meditation

Typically, mindfulness and meditation allow you to focus on the present moment. Trauma informed mindfulness and meditation incorporate past experiences into mindfulness practices. Studies show that mindfulness-based programs are effective at reducing trauma symptoms. Trauma informed mindfulness is typically used in conjunction with other healing techniques. But if you’ve had trouble with meditation in the past, this can create a safer space to begin.

Mindfulness and meditation can allow you to:

Reduce anxiety
Improve your emotional regulation
Build resilience
Learn and use healthy coping skills
Reduce emotional reactivity
Feel calm

If you:

Need a low-pressure option
Desire to learn skills
Enjoy meditation
Need a stress reducer
Are looking for a flexible and accessible technique

How to Find the Right Trauma Therapy for You

Figuring out which trauma therapy is right for you can seem difficult at first. There are so many questions to consider. Remind yourself that healing isn’t linear. Just because something works for your friend doesn’t mean you’ll have the same results. You also don’t have to feel stuck with one type of therapy if you don’t like it. Feel free to change your therapy style if you’re not seeing the results you want. (This is totally normal!)

The relationship you build with your therapist and feelings of safety will play a huge role in your therapy journey. Your therapist and treatment approach go hand in hand when finding the right fit. Many studies have shown that the therapeutic relationship is the most important predictor of your outcome.

If you’re still not sure which therapy style is right for you, ask yourself these questions:

Do you prefer talk-based therapies (like CBT) or healing through your body (like somatic therapy)?
Are you ready to work with your traumatic memories head-on (like in CBT and EMDR)?
Would you feel safer in a one-on-one setting with a therapist (like with IFS, CBT, and EMDR) or in a group?
Do you want structured therapy with specific problems solved (like CBT or narrative therapy)?
Or do you want to look at the bigger picture by healing your past experiences (like IFS)?