Trauma Therapy
Has Trauma Robbed You Of Your Sense Of Joy and Safety?
Are your thoughts, emotions, actions, or decisions being hijacked by a painful experience from your past? Do you feel ashamed or regretful at times for your reactions to triggers or reminders of trauma?
Perhaps you have a hard time trusting others or feeling safe in relationships, or the world in general, which limits the way you live. Or maybe you’re curious about why your past is still affecting you, and you’re looking for someone who can help you live more fully in the present.
Reminders of trauma may occur often in your everyday life, and managing your reactions to them may feel overwhelming and challenging. You may feel numb and disconnected from everyone and everything, or experience strong feelings of anger, sadness, and fear. Maybe you find yourself highly anxious, constantly on guard, as if you are waiting for the other shoe to drop. Perhaps you have somatic symptoms like body aches and pains or trouble sleeping. Working with a therapist can help you heal from the original trauma at the root of those reactions and help you manage the reactions while you heal.
Everyone’s Experience of Trauma is Unique
Trauma may be caused by a single, large-scale event, such as an assault or a life-threatening accident. It can also be the result of less intense, repeated, painful experiences like bullying, verbal abuse, emotional neglect, or the unpredictability of living with someone who is struggling with addiction. Sometimes, trauma will make its mark on people's lives so gradually and so subtly that it can almost feel invisible or difficult to name.
My Philosophy About Trauma Treatment
It takes time to address traumatic experiences, and doing this kind of work requires building a foundation of trust and safety. I will always encourage you to share and explore your experience at a pace and in a way that feels safe to you.
While we are doing the longer term, deep work of healing, we will also work on managing the symptoms and difficulties that trauma is creating now, in your day-to-day life. You will learn valuable mind-body skills for directly and consciously regulating how you think, feel, and respond to triggers.
Many people seek therapy because their intellectual understanding of their trauma has not resulted in changing their reactivity to triggers. And that makes a lot of sense because traumatic experiences change us on a neurological level that is not altered by intellectual understanding. Working together, we will discover where certain reactions come from, why you respond with such intensity, and how we can work with the nervous system directly to modify these responses.
Some Approaches We Might Use In Trauma Counseling Sessions
In our work together I will draw upon a variety of approaches, taking into account which ones best meet your specific needs and which ones feel most useful to you.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) is a powerful intervention we might use to rewire your nervous system’s reaction to trauma, providing results that go far beyond talk therapy. Psychodynamic perspectives will help us understand how early childhood relationships have impacted your relationship with yourself and others.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Ego State techniques are other types of trauma treatment that inform my work. These models offer additional perspective and tools that can help you heal any parts of yourself that may have been wounded in the past, as well as parts that are still trying to protect you in ways that interfere with your ability to live fully in the present.
In addition to these more traditional psychotherapy tools, I have decades of experience studying and teaching yoga and meditation, allowing me to incorporate mindfulness, breathing, and grounding techniques into our work together.
Whatever your needs are, you are reading this because some part of you knows you have the strength and resilience needed to change things for the better. I believe that trauma counseling can help you discover a life free of overwhelming emotions—a life with stability, comfort, healthy relationships, and even joy.
Perhaps You’re Considering Trauma Therapy But Still Have Some Concerns…
My problems aren’t that big of a deal—other people have it worse.
The pain you are feeling doesn't have to be bigger or more significant than anyone else’s to warrant attention. Trauma comes in all shapes and sizes, all real and deserving of help and healing.
I’m worried that trauma counseling means facing painful memories or parts of myself I don’t like.
That fear of facing pain makes a lot of sense and we will respect it, listen to it, and understand it to ensure that you are always comfortable with the pace and the focus of our work together. Perhaps you have had experience with other counselors that have labeled your fears as "resistance" or failed to recognize the purpose it has served you, only seeing it as an interference with their goal for your therapy.
That will not happen in the space we share. You deserve to hold onto anything that keeps you feeling comfortable and secure until we figure out how you can feel safe enough to let it go. That is actually part of the healing, not a "resistance" to healing.
What if I am so broken that nothing will ever make things better—not even trauma therapy?
There’s a part of you that worries nothing will help. Maybe it’s even afraid of having hope and being let down. But that fear doesn’t represent the whole of who you are. Some part of you visited this website because it knows that with help, you can heal.
All parts of you are welcome and encouraged to show up in this space—the doubtful parts, hopeful parts, frightened parts, and any other parts of you that feel any other ways about healing your trauma.