FAQ: Define Trauma, its treatment, and Life To The Full's specific role
At Life to the Full, we understand that navigating trauma can be a deeply personal and challenging journey. We are committed to providing a safe, non-judgmental space where you can find genuine healing, purpose, and hope within a Christian framework.
Here's how we define trauma, outline our treatment approaches, and explain our specific role in your healing journey:
Defining Trauma
Trauma often stems from deeply hurting experiences, such as issues from childhood, abusive relationships, or harm inflicted by others. It's a tricky word, as it encompasses various degrees of severity. However, if something in your past or present has left you feeling unsafe, powerless, or unworthy, that's often a significant sign that you may need to address underlying trauma. These experiences can profoundly impact your everyday life and inhibit your personal growth.
Our Approach to Trauma Treatment
Our trauma counselling primarily falls within our clinical psychological services, delivered by our highly qualified professionals. While we always offer spiritual counselling if you desire it, our preference for trauma cases is to begin within a robust clinical psychological framework.
Our main therapeutic approach for trauma is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing). Our Clinical Director, David Scoffield, has specialised training in this modality. EMDR is an increasingly popular and effective therapeutic framework for trauma. It's more of a somatic, or body-based, therapy than a purely talk-based one, although talking is definitely involved.
In EMDR, we guide you to mentally revisit the traumatic situation while engaging in eye movements. We understand this can be a very vulnerable and confronting process, as it often brings past hurts to the surface. However, this is done in a controlled environment facilitated by your practitioner, ensuring your safety throughout the process. We believe that confronting the pain, rather than avoiding it, is ultimately worth it in the long run for healing and processing.
Often, this process can lead to deep theological questions about forgiveness and justice, especially when trauma involves harm caused by others. We're here to help you wrestle with these concepts within a Christian framework. We emphasize that forgiveness does not equate to condoning harmful actions or re-entering abusive relationships; it involves acknowledging the transgression and trusting in divine justice.
If EMDR feels too confronting, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) offers a more traditional pathway into trauma recovery. CBT helps you challenge and objectively break down anxious thoughts and fears, working towards greater psychological flexibility. We also employ Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which encourages self-kindness and acceptance of thoughts to achieve this flexibility.
A typical client journey for trauma counselling generally involves the first two to three sessions focusing on you "downloading" your experiences, helping your therapist gain a thorough understanding of your situation. From there, your practitioner will introduce tailored strategies and modalities. On average, a trauma client might experience around ten sessions, often staggered over a year, in part due to Australia's mental healthcare plan provisions.
Our Specific Role at Life to the Full
Our unique role is to offer trauma counselling within a Christian framework, supported by professional expertise. We are passionate about cultivating holistic Christian flourishing.
Here's what that means for you:
Professional Expertise and Faith Integration: Our clinical psychologists, like David Scoffield, are trained in evidence-based therapeutic modalities like EMDR. We integrate this professional approach with a Christian worldview, aiming to provide a deeper sense of meaning, purpose, and hope throughout your healing journey.
A Non-Judgmental and Welcoming Space: We work diligently to be a non-judgmental space. We understand that you might feel uncertain about revealing what's truly going on, and we strive to show love and dignity, regardless of the challenges you share. You are always welcome here, even if you don't identify as Christian; we will always respect your spiritual boundaries. We want to assure you that seeking professional support is a sign of true strength, and there's absolutely no shame in reaching out for help.
Holistic Care: Our multidisciplinary team collaborates, harnessing the strengths of various disciplines to provide the most holistic level of care possible.
Instilling Hope Through a Redemptive Story: We prepare clients by acknowledging that healing from trauma can sometimes involve a temporary worsening before improvement, particularly with EMDR. We frame your suffering within a redemptive story, helping you lament and grieve your pain while believing that God can use these difficult experiences for deeper formation and connection with Him. Our goal isn't to deny your pain but to acknowledge it and find hope in God's ability to heal and write a deeper story.
Addressing Identity: Trauma often leaves individuals feeling unworthy or "less than". We integrate the biblical principle of identity, asserting that you are a beloved child of God, and your worth is not shaken by your human experiences. For those who may not be practicing Christians, we use "thought experiments" to explore the implications of biblical principles, inviting you to scrutinise them and see if they offer existential satisfaction.
Client Triage: Our internal triage model allows you to initially self-select a counsellor. However, if your primary issue appears to be psychological, we may, with your permission and a signed confidentiality waiver, refer you to one of our psychologists. This ensures you receive the most appropriate support for your needs.
Maintaining Confidentiality
Client confidentiality is paramount at Life to the Full, especially when dealing with sensitive trauma experiences. We are bound by a very strict code of ethics and legal requirements to maintain the privacy of what is discussed in our sessions.
We utilise an internal, industry-specific information system that is specifically designed for medical and psychological practices. This system includes embedded Zoom subscriptions for telehealth sessions, ensuring that these links are private, not public, and accessible only between the client and their practitioner. Our software provider bears significant liability for any breaches, underpinning the robustness of our security measures.
While confidentiality is indeed absolute in most cases, there are legal exceptions for mandatory reporting here in Australia. This applies if a client discloses something criminal, such as child abuse or a murder, or if there is an immediate danger to someone. In such rare instances, confidentiality rules do change, and we are legally obliged to report to the police.
For our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services, we explicitly assure staff that confidentiality is guaranteed. Even though the employer (for example, a school) pays for the sessions, we are not permitted to report back to management what staff members say in these sessions. This is crucial, as many individuals using EAP services have anxieties about their situation being disclosed to their employer or affecting performance reviews. We make it very clear that coming to our service does not result in information being shared with their management. We believe that when clients share incredibly sensitive and vulnerable information, particularly in trauma counselling, they are placing an immense trust in us, and we are dedicated to honouring that trust within our legal parameters.
Ready to take this important step?
Contact Life to the Full today to learn more and schedule your sessions.