A traumatic experience can leave a person feeling as if danger is all around them, even if there is no danger present or the traumatic event is in the past. This heightened state can make people feel unsafe, panicked, and unable to know what is real. Understanding how trauma impacts relationships will go a long way toward restoring broken relationships and getting past the trauma. Fortunately, this is possible to do because trauma therapy focuses on healing and learning how to create healthy relationships.
At Crestview Recovery, we help men and women 18 and over who have experienced a recent or past trauma that is negatively impacting their health and well-being. Our behavioral therapists have experience working with all types of trauma, including wartime, domestic abuse, peer pressure, and other causes of trauma. If you or a loved one is struggling with a traumatic event, call 866.262.0531 or fill out our online form today, and we will get back to you within 24 hours.
Understanding the Different Types of Trauma
A traumatic event is anything that causes a severe emotional response that can take several weeks to months to recover. It can be from a car accident, witnessing a crime, the death of a loved one, or domestic abuse. There are several forms of trauma that can impact a person’s mental health:
- Acute trauma is from a single instance, such as an accident, natural disaster, or sports injury.
- Chronic trauma is a prolonged, repeated form of trauma such as domestic physical or emotional abuse or sexual assault.
- Complex trauma involves multiple instances of trauma. It is often from a close family member or loved one and occurs over an extended period of time.
Men and women who struggle with a traumatic event will experience relationship issues as they try to process their thoughts and feelings. Therefore, it’s important to understand how trauma impacts relationships to prevent them from fracturing and worsening their mental health. At Crestview Recovery, we know how damaging trauma can be to relationships. Therefore, we work with each client and their families to ensure relationships stay strong.
How Trauma Impacts Relationships
Trauma’s impact on relationships can be very devastating to everyone in their lives. Understanding how trauma impacts relationships is important to know if you or a loved one has experienced a recent or past traumatic event.
Here are four ways how trauma impacts relationships:
1. Anger and aggression
After a traumatic experience, a person can feel on edge and unsafe. They may feel like an attack is coming at any moment and be constantly alert and tense. They may lash out at their partner for seemingly no reason and can become violent.
2. Feeling shameful
Emotional abuse and chronic rejection can lead to feelings of shame that can be very dangerous. It can cause clients to put up walls and not be honest with their partner and push them to end the relationship, and potentially lead to worsening mental health and substance use.
3. Making poor relationship choices
One of the biggest problems with trauma and relationships is how it impacts future relationships. If left untreated, it can cause people to seek out those who will treat them the same way because they think that is how relationships are supposed to be.
4. Negative feelings about relationships
In some cases, men and women will develop an unhealthy view of relationships and avoid them altogether. They have a hard time trusting their partner and feel they don’t understand them, and would rather be alone, which is very unhealthy.
Crestview Recovery: Your Best Resource for Trauma Therapy
At Crestview Recovery, we offer trauma therapy for men and women 18 and over who need help processing a past or recent trauma. Our behavioral therapists understand the difficulties with trauma and relationships and focus on healing our clients and their families.
If you or a loved one’s relationship is suffering due to a traumatic event, call 866.262.0531 to speak with our compassionate staff today to begin healing.
Since 2016, Dr. Merle Williamson, a graduate of Oregon Health Sciences University, has been the Medical Director at Crestview Recovery, bringing a rich background in addiction medicine from his time at Hazelden Treatment Center. He oversees outpatient drug and alcohol treatments, providing medical care, setting policies, detox protocols, and quality assurance measures. Before specializing in addiction medicine, he spent 25 years in anesthesiology, serving as Chair of Hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and Chief of Anesthesia at Kaiser Permanente. This experience gives him a unique perspective on treating prescription drug addiction.
