I am a diehard EMDR therapist, so when friends and family ask for therapist recommendations, I usually recommend they go to an EMDR therapist. But this brings me to a crucial, often overlooked truth: it can be a trap to get too caught up in the therapy models themselves-CBT, EMDR, IFS, DBT, ACT, or others. Clients usually search for therapists based on modality, sometimes even assuming that one model will "fix" them better than another, and miss what matters much more: Who delivers them.
In our current clinical landscape, "trauma" has become a ubiquitous term-both in the scientific literature and in popular discourse. The word is invoked in diagnostic manuals, self-help books, and even casual conversation. The dominant narrative around trauma today often privileges a view of trauma as a "thing"-a technical problem with distinct behavioral, neurobiological, or cognitive symptoms that exists apart from the lived experience of the person.