Utilization of Presence Awareness in Trauma Therapy
Trauma Care December 22, 2022 Michelle M. Lepak
Trauma often leads to long-term symptoms like emotional dysregulation, depression, addiction, and PTSD, causing patients to experience the world through a narrow, myopic lens. The Presence Psychotherapy Trauma Protocol (PPTP) uses specific open-ended questions in therapy sessions to help clients orient to Presence Awareness—a broader sensory awareness—which can then be used to resolve trauma. Options such as Grounded Presence, Spacious Presence, Relational Presence, or Transcendent Presence create multiple regulating, processing, and attachment healing opportunities. A case example demonstrates how Presence Awareness and the PPTP concept of Reflective View help clients access, tolerate, and process trauma within this expansive awareness.