A Wise Mind on Trauma & Recovery

A Wise Mind’s Road to Trauma Recovery 

Trauma is personal, dynamic, and complex, not to mention the stigma that clouds the conversation. Over 70% of American adults struggle with trauma or will experience traumatic events in their lifetime. As a recovery center, we often find that trauma is left unresolved during the process of healing. At Sabino Recovery, we take an individualized and holistic approach. We understand firsthand that trauma presents itself in unique ways and that in order to truly heal, we have to find a unique recovery path. 

What does trauma look like? 

It is important to understand that trauma doesn't fit in a box. Not having experienced sexual or physical trauma does not mean that you are not dealing with trauma. In fact, something as common as moving schools and struggling to make new friends can impact the chemistry of your brain for years to come. The root manifestation of trauma in people's lives is the idea that they are not safe. 

How your trauma presents itself in your life can be just as variant. Maladaptive behaviors like drug and alcohol dependencies, shopping addictions, or struggling with mental health can be the result of your unresolved trauma.  Each step that we take at Sabino to help you along your recovery path is just as individualized. We know that not everyone fits into the 12 Steps of recovery and healing requires different approaches.

What tools can you use? 

Your brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Our amazing brains have the ability to adapt, change and restructure throughout our lives. At any age or stage of life, we have the ability to rewrite our neural pathways, which is a primary focus of the Sabino Way. We use modalities like EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing) and ART (accelerated resolution therapy) to help make those changes in your brain. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation in the lower brain stem to reprocess the event back into the rational part of the brain (where you can process it). ART, also bilaterally stimulates the brain to change the picture of the event in your mind. These are accompanied by the processing that we are doing all the time. 

We host group and individual therapies to guide the processing for each of our residents. For those who are struggling to find the words for their trauma, we host equine therapy sessions.  Horses function primarily out of their limbic system, a place without judgment. This mindful practice allows for a place of acceptance that sometimes isn't available with humans. 

Are you thriving or surviving? 

Recovery is a journey, an ongoing process, and one that we are proud to guide our residents through. Our goal is for each of our residents to thrive in their recovery process, not just white-knuckle through it. Our diverse staff and modality options allow us to create an individualized approach for each resident. 

A pivotal moment in your trauma recovery journey is believing “It's not what’s wrong with you, it's what happened to you.” We are not in the business of fixing people, we are teaching people new habits. Sabino Recovery operates on a 3 stage recovery model; safety, processing, and reintegration.

Leaving Sabino Recovery is another journey on its own. We spend the last week of your recovery process reacclimating you to family, friends, and surroundings. We ensure you feel comfortable continuing using the tools and techniques we have instilled while here. 

We encourage all of our residents and family members to research. Learn as much as you can about recovery and the modalities that come with it. These are powerful tools and can be harmful if done incorrectly. If you or a loved one are see