Trauma Therapy
Are You Aware Of How Unresolved Trauma Currently Impacts Your Life?
Do you often feel sad, hopeless, and disconnected? Did you experience trauma in your childhood that continues to negatively impact your life? Or maybe you experienced trauma as an adult—in a car accident, natural disaster, or experiencing the sudden loss of a loved one? Are you ready to finally turn the page on the pain of your past and take steps toward a brighter future?
If you perceive life through the lens of unresolved trauma, your worldview may be bleak and hopeless. Perhaps, without even realizing it, the pain you endured in your childhood might still be impacting all aspects of your life, including your relationships, self-esteem, and how you move through the world. Sadly, the walls you needed to build to protect yourself may now prevent you from trusting others or experiencing true intimacy.
The Emotional And Physical Effects Of Trauma Are Far-Reaching
The aftermath of trauma might be causing you to experience mood swings that make you prone to irritability or misdirected anger. Perhaps you have difficulty concentrating or often feel numb, disassociating from what’s happening around you. Or maybe because you often internalize what’s going on, you often feel racked with guilt or shame. If your self-esteem has suffered, you might struggle to make decisions. Engaging in self-destructive behavior or self-medicating may be how you find a sense of relief.
You may not be aware that the chronic physical symptoms you experience—such as stomach aches, headaches, fatigue, insomnia, increased heart rate, and panic attacks—are rooted in trauma. Until you address what lies at the core of your pain, your body might continue to cry out for help.
The good news is that with the gentle guidance of a trauma-informed therapist, you can work at your own pace to uncover the source of what’s troubling you. Therapy can teach beneficial ways of coping with trauma that you can carry with you into the future.
Although Trauma Is Prevalent, We Often Don’t Recognize Its Impact
According to the National Council for Behavioral Health, “70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives.” ¹ Many of us don’t realize how previously experienced trauma affects us presently. Sadly, if we lack the social support required for recovery, trauma may continue to follow us throughout our lives.
Trauma comes in many forms, including one-time events such as accidents or natural disasters. We may have experienced attachment trauma if the relationships with our caregivers were neglectful or emotionally abusive. And when a series of events compound over time—such as domestic violence or sexual abuse—an insidious form of complex trauma may develop. These experiences may lead to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms that include nightmares, hypervigilance, and panic attacks.
Systemic Sexism and Racism Exacerbates Trauma
Minorities are often subjected to microaggressions that highlight the systemic racism and sexism entrenched in our culture, such as being passed up for promotions at work or having a high bar set for us that isn’t in place for others. Unfortunately, living under these conditions often intensifies our symptoms of trauma. Further, when women of color have been the victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, the burden of proof is frequently placed upon them. Rather than being believed, they have to convince law enforcement that what they experienced really happened. When we feel disenfranchised and that our voice isn’t being heard, we may start to feel like we can no longer control our circumstances, eventually giving up.
What’s more, the stigma surrounding mental illness, particularly in minority communities, prevents many of us from seeking help. Perhaps our community lacks mental health resources or we are unaware of what resources exist. Due to social media’s influence on our perception of trauma, we may attempt to diagnose ourselves through this platform rather than look to a therapist for support. Unfortunately, social media tends to sensationalize trauma rather than offer helpful tools for recovery.
Once you recognize the signs of trauma or PTSD, therapy is an effective way to heal from your pain. With the help of a trained, trauma-informed psychologist, not only can you heal from trauma, but you also gain a newfound self-awareness and inner peace.
Therapy Can Help You Process Trauma In A Safe Environment
If you haven’t yet connected the dots between what happened to you in the past and how you feel now, you may be unaware of how unprocessed trauma may be affecting you. Left untreated, trauma can result in prolonged physical and emotional distress that bleeds into every facet of your life.
Therapy offers a non-judgmental and compassionate environment for you to process your trauma at a pace that feels comfortable to you. We will first establish a strong therapeutic relationship based on trust and safety. Laying this groundwork will allow you to increase your awareness of how trauma comes up for you so you can identify beneficial coping mechanisms for dealing with it. Once you acknowledge that you’ve experienced trauma and know how to process it, your outlook on life can improve.
What To Expect In Sessions
After our initial consultation, we will use the first few sessions to learn more about you and identify the goals you have for therapy. While it’s important to understand the source of your pain before we set about healing it, I aim to help you process your trauma safely and at your own pace in each counseling session. There will be no rush to talk about anything until you feel ready to do so. Once we have assessed your readiness to share your trauma, we will begin to work through it by first understanding its impact on your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
In ongoing sessions, you will become aware of how trauma has impacted every aspect of your life—your relationships, life choices, career path, perception of the world, and your place within it. In addition to increased insight, you will learn a set of coping skills that can help you manage feelings of distress whenever they arise.
The Modalities I Use
The bedrock of my therapeutic practice emphasizes establishing a relationship with you that is based upon authenticity, warmth, transparency, and trust. For trauma-related symptoms, I use evidence-based techniques to help you address your symptoms, including Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). With DBT, I will help you learn how to regulate your emotions and tolerate overwhelming feelings of distress.
TF-CBT is an evidence-based modality that will help you recognize unhealthy or unhelpful thoughts when they arise so that you can reframe them before they lead to negative emotions. I may also utilize components of mindfulness (ACT), which offers helpful grounding exercises that can reconnect you to the present moment. For example, if you experience panic attacks, we will examine why they happen and learn diaphragmatic breathing to help calm your nervous system.
With the safety and stability trauma treatment offers, you can achieve the inner peace you've been missing for so long. You can also gain a sense of safety in the world and trust within yourself that has the potential to change the trajectory of your life.
But You May Wonder Whether Trauma Therapy Is Right For You…
I’m overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.
As a therapist who has long worked with clients who experienced trauma, I understand that the first step is usually the hardest. It can be especially difficult to get started if you’re uncertain about what sort of changes you want to make in your life. However, working together, we can collaboratively identify goals that can guide your healing process. Whether you are dealing with symptoms of complex trauma or PTSD as a result of sexual abuse or childhood neglect, counseling offers hope for a happier, healthier life.
I can’t afford consistent trauma treatment.
I understand that affording quality trauma counseling may be a concern for you. However, there is no greater investment than prioritizing your well-being. Breaking the chain of trauma is important for generations to come—for your own sake as well as your family’s. Because attaining inner peace can be life-changing, I do my best to operate on a sliding scale for trauma therapy clients. Additionally, we can space out appointments with homework assignments you can work on in between sessions so that you can still receive consistent quality care that is less frequent but more affordable.
I’m afraid I won’t be able to handle talking about painful things in trauma therapy.
The idea of talking about your trauma can be scary at first. You probably spend a lot of energy suppressing painful memories just to get through each day. That's why in trauma counseling, we will move at your own pace. I will never push you prematurely or ask you to talk about anything that causes you distress. As your therapist, I will ensure that our relationship is strong and stable enough that you feel comfortable telling me you're ready to talk about your trauma or, instead, prefer to take it slow.
Take The First Step Toward A Brighter Future
Although you didn’t deserve what happened to you, it’s possible to heal from the impact of trauma. To schedule a free, 15-minute consultation to learn more about trauma-informed therapy, please contact me.
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