What is Trauma?
Psychological trauma can affect your life for many years after the event or situation that caused it. It isn’t a problem that’s easily resolved, especially if you try to do it on your own. However, talk therapy has proven valuable in helping people overcome the distress, pain, and dysfunction that come from having lived through the most overwhelmingly threatening experiences.
What is Trauma Therapy?
Trauma therapy is that counselors use to help people overcome psychological trauma. A traumatic event is defined as one in which you perceive a threat to your life, bodily integrity, or sanity. The other component of the definition is your reaction to the event or situation. If you can cope with the event, even if it is a serious threat, it isn’t trauma. Trauma happens when your ability to cope is completely overwhelmed.
Goals of Trauma Therapy
The most crucial goals of trauma therapy are typically:
1) To face the reality of the past event without getting stuck in it
2) To work towards shifting focus from the past to the present
3) To improve daily functioning
4) To gain skills that prevent relapse
5) To overcome addictions associated with traumatic stress
Risks
While traumatic events can happen to anyone, there are risk factors that make some of us more likely to experience psychological trauma following a disturbing event. You’re more likely to be traumatized if you’re already under a heavy stress load, have recently suffered a series of losses, or have been traumatized before—especially if the earlier trauma occurred in childhood.
Common FAQs
Orthopaedic trauma refers to injuries of bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, or tendons caused by accidents, falls, sports injuries, or other sudden impacts. You should see a specialist immediately if there is severe pain, deformity, inability to move, swelling, or open wounds following an injury.
Not always. Some trauma injuries like simple fractures, sprains, or minor soft-tissue injuries can heal with non-surgical treatment such as casting, bracing, rest, and physiotherapy. Surgery is recommended when the bone or joint cannot heal properly on its own, is unstable, or if there are associated soft-tissue injuries.
Healing time varies depending on the type and severity of injury, age, and overall health. Most fractures take about 3–6 months to heal with proper fixation and rehabilitation, but some complex injuries may take longer.
Trauma surgery is performed under anaesthesia, so you won’t feel pain during surgery. Afterward, mild to moderate discomfort is normal and controlled with medicines. Early movement and guided physiotherapy help reduce stiffness and support healing. Your surgeon will plan a recovery schedule based on your injury.
Like all surgeries, trauma procedures carry some risks such as infection, delayed healing, stiffness, or injury to surrounding tissues. Factors like the severity of trauma and overall health influence risk. Your surgeon will explain how risks are managed and minimized.