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Trauma is a term that covers a wide range of painful past experiences that are still emotionally active in the present-day lives of people. These experiences may originate in childhood or adolescence at the hands of parents, schoolmates or strangers. They can be physical, sexual or emotional, and they tend to leave their mark on the adult psyche.
Weill Cornell Medicine’s LGBTQIA+ Trauma Treatment Program is housed at the institution’s Center for Trauma and Addiction. The Center treats members of the general population—including veterans—for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorder and related conditions, while the LGBTQIA+ Trauma Treatment Program is focused on addressing these issues among members of the queer community.
LGBTQIA+ individuals are more likely than others to have endured mistreatment by peers and family during childhood, and they’re at greater risk for violence and discrimination as adults.
But there’s hope. Our clients can overcome the traumatic events of the past with the help of mental health professionals trained to provide treatments that are evidence-based, compassionate and highly effective.
Psychological trauma may be defined as a shattering past event, or series of events, that overwhelms the sufferer’s ability to digest it emotionally, says Erik Orozco, a social worker, counselor and member of the LGBTQIA+Trauma Treatment Program’s team. It deeply affects a person's feeling of safety and leaves them feeling helpless.
A past traumatic event may have a “haunting” effect. Showing up in a memory or a dream, it may trigger an outsize emotional reaction.
Says Erik’s colleague Tom Lorio, members of the LGBTQIA+ community may have been traumatized by a parent’s rejection or neglect; severe bullying at school or in their neighborhood; or a random assault on the street.
Thankfully, “there are ways to leave the past in the past,” Tom says. That’s where Weill Cornell’s LGBTQIA+ Trauma Treatment Program comes in.
“All of our clinicians are trained in EMDR,” says Tom. (EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.) “It’s an evidence-based technique that has proven high effective in treating people who were traumatized as children.
“EMDR became a respected modality in the mental health field during the early 2000s,” he continues, “with advances in neuroscience and imaging technologies. We can see differences in brain scans taken before and after EMDR therapy.”
In addition to EMDR, Erik says, the team offers other modalities, including:
What all of these have in common is a body-based approach. Instead of persuading a client to give up negative beliefs about themselves, for example, the psychotherapist taps into the way the body holds on to such beliefs and fosters the process of releasing them.
The LGBTQIA+ Trauma Treatment Program accepts Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Aetna, making its services affordable for people living in New York City who have these insurances.
“Our clients must be at least 21 years of age,” Erik says.
The program aims to take care of vulnerable groups. Mental health services provided by the program’s caring staff are delivered with unfailing empathy and acceptance.
Learn more about Weill Cornell Medicine’s LGBTQIA+ Trauma Treatment Program or make an appointment with a counselor by visiting the program’s website here.