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The effects of trauma following a life-threatening incident can linger and cause more damage than you can imagine. One moment, life might seem ordinary, and the next, you’re navigating a series of emotions, fear, and confusion you can’t get through alone. Read on to learn how crisis counselling can help you recover from trauma.

1.  Providing Immediate Emotional Support

Most people who experience trauma go through a range of mixed emotions, such as shock, fear, anger, and guilt, which are challenging to deal with. Experiencing these mixed feelings can be overwhelming, leaving you unsure how to cope and move on from everything, especially when you don’t have someone to turn to. However, after being a victim or a witness, you need a safe space to express yourself freely while trying to process the incident.

2. Ensuring You Regain Control of Your Well-Being

The emotions that you may experience after a traumatic event can impact your sense of stability. Moreover, they can filter into your health and well-being, causing harm to your emotional, mental and physical health. When you rely on the FREE-to-use iER App to access crisis counselling for coping strategies and related grounding techniques, you can regain control of your life and improve your emotional and physical well-being.

3. Understanding Your Reactions

Trauma can leave you feeling broken or abnormal, especially when you compare yourself to how others move on effortlessly. According to research, crisis counselling is an effective coping mechanism to help you realise that your reactions like anxiety, nightmares, or avoidance are natural responses to extraordinary events. This understanding can help ease self-blame, validate your feelings, and encourage self-compassion.

4. Developing Coping Mechanisms

After a traumatic incident, you will likely feel overwhelmed even by the simplest tasks. In this instance, crisis counselling can provide practical tools such as breathing exercises to ease panic, mindfulness techniques like yoga to stay grounded, and journaling to process emotions and uncover triggers to help you regain control. These are different yet effective strategies that you can try along your journey until you find the one that works best for you to improve your mental well-being.

5. Processing the Trauma

Relying on crisis counselling can make it easier for you to start processing the trauma, which is the first step towards your healing journey. If you don’t have practical tools to process your trauma, it can manifest as anxiety, depression, and other severe physical symptoms, making recovery more challenging in the long run. Counsellors you connect with through the FREE-to-use iER App can work with you to:

• Gain insight into how your trauma is impacting your daily life.
• Shift how you view yourself as a victim or blame yourself for what happened.
• Help you build renewed confidence in how you navigate challenging life moments.

6. Preventing Long-Term Psychological Impact

If you don’t process your trauma, it doesn’t always heal on its own and can lead to conditions like PTSD, anxiety, or depression without intervention. The first step towards breaking a cycle that could lead to long-term challenges is seeking immediate help. Moreover, access to counsellors connects you with specialised professionals for ongoing support if additional measures are necessary.

Reaching out for help is important to start your healing journey following a traumatic incident. It can also be an excellent way to prioritise your mental health and prevent potential physical health concerns in the long term. The FREE-to-use iER App immediately connects you to social services and offers crisis counselling when needed.

With over 1 million downloads, our iER App remains South Africa’s most trusted companion. You can download the app for FREE from the Google Play Store, Huawei AppGallery or Apple App Store. Follow us on social media to stay updated with important safety tips. For frequently asked questions, click here.