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5 therapy techniques for trauma

Trauma can affect clients in any number of ways. Here’s how you can help.

April 25, 2025 • Updated on August 29, 2025

3 min read

The American Psychological Association defines trauma as an emotional response to a distressing situation such as a natural disaster, an accident, or a crime. Trauma is extremely common. According to the National Council for Behavioral Health, an estimated 70 percent of American adults have endured at least one traumatic event during their lifetime. 

Still, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to treating clients who have experienced trauma — partly because trauma can take a variety of forms. It also affects people in different ways, manifesting in everything from anxiety and depression to PTSD and substance abuse disorders, among other mental and physical health challenges.

Read on to learn more about types of trauma, as well as five methods for treating it.

Types of trauma

When thinking about trauma, therapists often use three primary classifications: acute, chronic, and complex.

  • Acute trauma stems from one specific event, like a car accident. The sudden, unexpected nature of the event can cause feelings of shock and anxiety. Flashbacks are also common among people who suffer this type of trauma.
  • Chronic trauma results from repeated exposure to a traumatic event, such as domestic abuse, bullying, or war. Symptoms can include depression, hyperarousal, and defensiveness.
  • Complex trauma is similar to chronic trauma in that it involves experiencing a series of traumatic events over a long period of time. This type of trauma typically begins in childhood, though, and involves abuse and/or neglect, typically at the hands of a caregiver. People who experience this type of trauma often struggle with regulating emotions and forming healthy relationships.

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Therapy techniques for trauma

There are a number of techniques available for treating trauma. These include:

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT)

Designed for children and adolescents, this short-term approach — which stresses the development of coping skills and the ability to recontextualize distressing thoughts — has proven effective in treating PTSD in addition to affective, behavioral, and cognitive issues caused by trauma. It has been shown to be particularly impactful for survivors of sexual abuse.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)

A form of talk therapy that typically takes place over the course of six months to a year, DBT focuses on management of emotions, improving relationships, and navigating life’s challenges. DBT has four key components: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Sessions involve learning how to swap harmful behaviors for more productive ones like mindfulness and tolerating stressful situations.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy

This multi-phase technique relies on the idea that the brain retains memories of traumatic events differently than memories of positive events. EMDR aims to have clients reprocess painful memories of their trauma by having them recall their experience while guiding their eye movement (or stimulating other senses like sound). This helps clients think about their trauma in a new, more manageable way. Studies show EMDR can be beneficial for acute trauma and PTSD, among other mental health challenges, though experts can’t totally explain why.

Somatic approaches (adjunctive intervention)

Instead of focusing only on the mind, somatic approaches such as somatic experiencing aim to help the body release tension and pain linked to trauma. Although they can be a helpful component of trauma care, they should only be used alongside an established trauma treatment like EMDR, prolonged exposure (PE) therapy, or cognitive processing therapy (CPT) rather than on their own. If you bring somatic techniques into sessions, document the primary evidence-based treatment in your notes and how the somatic work supports it.

Prolonged exposure therapy

A form of CBT, prolonged exposure therapy shows clients how to gradually confront and interact with their triggers so they no longer feel threatened. Though it can cause a great deal of anxiety at first, the technique is particularly effective for those suffering from PTSD.

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This content is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute clinical, legal, financial, or professional advice. All decisions should be made at the discretion of the individual or organization, in consultation with qualified clinical, legal, or other appropriate professionals.

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