Trauma Therapy
Your trauma does not define you.
Traumatic and painful life experiences can leave a lasting impact on your mind and your body. You feel the impacts of these past events in your present life.
But these painful experiences and memories do not have to define how you live today or in the future.
You are MORE than your trauma.
Symptoms of trauma…
It looks different for everyone.
The way we process difficult emotions and experiences can present differently for everyone. Living with these can feel like you are a prisoner to the symptoms you are still experiencing. It can be debilitating and affects all aspects of your life. If you are still feeling the effects of painful past experiences today, therapy can help you move forward and live a life worth living.
Below is a list of common symptoms in my therapy clients, but it is in no way exhaustive. This is simply a list to help guide you to seek help.
You can do this.
I’m here to help.
It’s easy to blame ourselves when bad things happen to us. But we cannot control how others treat us. It was not – and never has been – your fault.
The traumatic event/s were out of your control.
Together, through trauma therapy, I can help you regain control of your thoughts, feelings, and life. You can get back to feeling like yourself, enjoy the day-to-day things in your life, and focus on your relationships.
Trauma is treatable. What happened in the past, does not have to haunt your present.
Therapy is not uniform.
You are unique, and so is your treatment.
Just as every person’s symptoms of trauma and anxiety are different, so is the way I treat you.
Through a variety of methods including Brainspotting, EMDR, CBT, DBT, and ACT, I can help you heal from experiences such as:
Why does trauma therapy work?
Taking the first step to address working on painful life experiences can seem extremely overwhelming or unbearable. However, once you can process these difficult emotions, you can feel immense relief.
When we experience trauma or pain our brain and bodies need time to process these events to try and make sense of what happened to us. If there is ongoing trauma or stress (events that repeat themselves) or an event that is hard for you brain to make sense of, it will have difficulty processing the experience and can lead to symptoms of PTSD.
Benefits of trauma therapy
Happy, healthy, whole.
Processing your trauma is only half the journey. The other half, is reclaiming your life and living the way you truly desire.
These are some positive changes you can expect to happen after trauma therapy:
Trauma Therapy Approch
Three phases to reclaiming your life.
There are very effective ways to treat trauma that help to alleviate trauma related symptoms. These treatments help you process the events, process the feelings and somatic symptoms, learn skills to help cope with anxiety/panic, and ultimately become stronger and healthier.
Having a therapist who creates the space for you to feel heard and safe is crucial in trauma therapy.
Most Trauma therapies – including mine – follow Judith Herman’s three phase model:
Safety & stabilization: overcoming dysregulation
The first stage of trauma therapy focuses on regaining the skills you need to take care of your basic needs. This would include helping you to regain a sense of control over both your thoughts and your emotions, help you figure out what your triggers are, and skills to cope with the symptoms you are experiencing.
Coming to terms with the traumatic memory
During the second stage you share your trauma story with the therapist. You will learn how to shift negative self or world beliefs that stem from the trauma. This is the beginning of your healing. You will be able to be mindful on how your current symptoms and struggles may connect back to your trauma.
Integration & meaning making
The third stage is where you will focus on your current and future self, reinventing a new self that isn’t constructed based upon the trauma. The intention in this time together is focusing on your identity and intimacy. You are able to redefine yourself in the context of meaningful relationships and activities.
Happy, healthy, whole.
I am trained in trauma specific interventions such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing Therapy), CPT (cognitive processing therapy), BSP (Brainspotting), and DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy).
Trauma therapy will not get rid of any traumatic or upsetting memories, but it works to alleviate the distress and emotions attached to the memories. Together, we will create a treatment plan that is best suited to your unique trauma.
Here is a quick breakdown of what you can expect from each of these approaches:
EMDR Therapy
EMDR is an integrated psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma.
EMDR enables people to heal from the emotional distress that is caused by the painful experiences. EMDR will help to process stuck or unresolved traumatic memories using its 8 phase model to help alleviate the symptoms you are experiencing.
Brainspotting Therapy
Brainspotting is based off the theory that emotions from trauma can become stunk in your body which can lead to both physical and mental aliments. Brainspotting is a cutting-edge treatment that focuses on the brain body connection, utilizing a person’s field of vision to access the parts of the brain with the traumatic or adverse memories are stored. When you focus on an eye position related to a negative experience you are then able to release the emotional and physical stress within that issue.
Cognitive Processing Therapy
CPT is based off cognitive behavioral therapy techniques. CPT will help you challenge unhelpful beliefs and thoughts patterns that stem from the traumatic event.
It enables you to shift your mentality around the traumatic event, and as you are able to do this healing from the trauma becomes possible.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
DBT was initially developed to treat individuals who had borderline personality disorder. It is now used to treat a variety of symptoms relation to depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, and bipolar to name a few.
DBT Focuses on four different modules: Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Distress Tolerance, and Emotion Regulation.
Ready to get started?
You can’t escape your past, but you can heal your future.
Whether you’re struggling with PTSD symptoms, recurring trauma, childhood trauma, anxiety, panic, depression, or taking that next big leap…
Together, we can overcome the past that’s preventing you from living the life you so bravely want to live.