Why holidays can trigger trauma responses

While the holiday season can bring joy and togetherness, for some, it can trigger painful memories or flashbacks. Even something as simple as a family gathering or certain sensory experiences can reopen old wounds. 

Trauma can be understood as a shocking, scary, or dangerous event that may cause significant fear, helplessness, dissociation, or confusion. People who’ve experienced trauma may deal with nightmares, flashbacks, overwhelming thoughts, or intense emotions, especially around the holidays. 

If you have experienced a trauma-inducing event, you might be prone to heightened sensory experiences, and certain noises or sights may make you remember the trauma you experienced. Trauma also might make you experience waves of sadness, anger, or anxiety. The symptoms of trauma might impact your relationships, work, or everyday responsibilities. 

Signs the holidays are hitting a nerve

• Experiencing flashbacks or nightmares
• Avoiding certain places or songs
• Feeling startled responses or hypervigilance
• Numbing with substances or isolation 
• Experiencing sleep disturbances 
• Suffering from memory or concentration difficulties
• Experiencing a distorted self-perception 
• Having difficulty with your emotions 

Experiencing trauma during the holiday season does not mean you are worthless or helpless. It just means your nervous system might be stuck in survival mode. You might just need some additional support during the holiday season to get back to living a balanced life. 

5 evidence-based trauma treatments

If you need some extra support this holiday season, you are not alone. Consider reaching out to a licensed mental health counselor for compassionate, whole-person-centered care and trauma treatment. Certain therapists are specifically trained to understand and treat trauma. Certain therapy modalities may be more effective for trauma treatment than others. Those include: 

• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a specific type of therapy that can help clients process traumatic memories and reduce their emotional impact. 

• Cognitive processing therapy (CPT)

Unlike cognitive behavioral therapy, CPT is specifically designed for trauma. It focuses on how traumatic experiences alter beliefs about oneself and the world. This modality targets negative beliefs and helps reframe past events. CPT tries to change negative thought processing into healthier thinking patterns. 

• Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT)

This type of therapy is targeted at children and adolescents who have experienced trauma. The goal of this treatment is to develop a sense of safety and security and repair healthy social skills with the self and others. 

• Somatic therapies for body-based release

These methods tend to focus on the release of trauma stored in the body. Somatic, meaning related to the body, uses methods such as breathwork, mindfulness, or movement to process a traumatic event. 

• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

ACT focuses on teaching acceptance of your thoughts and thought patterns, rather than resisting them. This modality also encourages people to live in alignment with their values despite their feelings or emotions. 

How Lightfully personalizes holiday-season support

At Lightfully, our clinical experts take a unique approach to treatment called Precision Care Model (PCM). This fully personalized framework uses the most effective aspects of evidence-based modalities, including CBT, ACT, CPT, and compassion-based and somatic therapies. Together, these help address the deeper emotional drivers behind your traumas. 

If you or someone you love is looking for personalized, clinically credible care in California this holiday season, our four levels of care and PCM address the four core processes that mental health conditions often affect: 

• Difficulty with emotions 
• Difficulty with thoughts 
• Difficulty with behaviors 
• Difficulty with relationships 

Each of our programs offers a different level of structure and support. This allows our clients to explore what’s right for them at their own pace. They include: 

• Residential Treatment Centers (RTC)

This level of care is 24-hour residential care in a beautiful, homelike environment. Three weekly sessions with a therapist and one weekly session with a psychiatrist are included. On-site yoga and movement opportunities are available for our clients as well. 

• Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)

PHP is also called our Day Treatment Program. It provides 6-7 hours a day of structured and supportive programming. This allows our clients the opportunity to receive daytime care while still being able to go home at night. Without implementing overnight supervision, clients have the opportunity to practice new skills as they prepare for life after completion of the program. 

• Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)

Our IOP is comprehensive, evidence-based, and includes 3-6 hours of daily programming, a weekly session with a therapist, and ongoing family therapy. 

• Virtual IOP and PHP (vIOP, vPHP)

Our PHPs and IOPs are both available virtually to residents of California. Our virtual programs are also a great “next step” for clients transitioning from higher levels of care. 

Change is possible. When you’re ready to take the first step, reach out to our Admissions Concierge Team. We’ll take the next steps together, toward the fullest, brightest version of you.