Trauma Therapy
Is A Sense Of Being “Stuck” Keeping You From Moving Forward With Your Life?
Are you having trouble feeling grounded and connected to yourself?
Do you often feel so overwhelmed that you can’t make decisions or maintain healthy boundaries?
Is it difficult for you to regulate your emotions?
It may feel as though you are living life in survival mode. Instead of being present and able to enjoy your work, hobbies, and relationships, you may be at the mercy of strong, painful emotions that keep you constantly on edge. This has probably caused you to withdraw or not engage in the activities that might otherwise offer you a sense of peace and comfort, even though you are desperate for a sense of connection.
The most difficult part of this scenario is that you can’t even identify what your emotions are in the first place. There is a combination of fear, anxiety, and dread keeping you stuck, yet you may have a hard time locating its source. Rather than viewing daily struggles and symptoms as indicative of something deeper, you may have convinced yourself that they are surface-level issues that can be repaired with a quick fix.
At the core of your pain, there is probably a challenging experience that changed how you think and feel about yourself. In other words, it’s possible that trauma is to blame for your ongoing discomfort. As a therapist, I am invested in helping clients overcome the lasting effects of trauma so that they can re-establish a strong, healthy relationship with themselves and the world around them.
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What Is Trauma And How Does It Affect Us?
Oftentimes, when people experience distressing symptoms of fear, anxiety, and feeling “stuck,” they don’t recognize their symptoms as being part of a larger pattern—a cycle in which the brain perceives fear and then engages in maladaptive behaviors to protect itself. This is probably because we tend to downplay certain traumatic experiences as being “not that bad,” or we don’t even acknowledge our experience as being traumatic in the first place. Without fully connecting to our emotions, it’s easy to fall into autopilot mode and become increasingly detached from ourselves and our surroundings.
The truth is that trauma is defined as anything that overwhelms the nervous system, whether the experience is unexpected, life-threatening, or too stressful to manage alone. This definition encompasses experiences that are commonly understood as being traumatic—including assaults, abuses, accidents, injuries, or other critical situations—as well as experiences that are not necessarily physically threatening but nevertheless overwhelming.
Some examples of these traumas might include childhood neglect, bullying, verbal or mental abuse, and even the death of a loved one. Furthermore, there are systemic traumas—often experienced by people of color and other minorities—that manifest as state-sponsored violence, oppression, and racist microaggressions. Because of this, many in these communities often develop generational trauma, as maladaptive coping patterns are passed on down the family line.
Given this broad definition of trauma, it’s safe to say that most of us will experience trauma in our lives, and in fact, The National Council For Mental Wellbeing reports that at least 70 percent of Americans will sustain at least one traumatic event by the time they reach adulthood. [1]
You Are Not Alone
If you survived a traumatic experience, it’s important to remember that there is hope. Your anxiety and distress are your body’s way of telling you that something deep down needs to be healed. Fortunately, therapy gives you an opportunity to be witnessed, supported, and validated so that a sense of safety can be established so that you can access and heal your inner wounds.
Somatic Therapy Offers You A Toolkit For Managing Difficult Emotions And Processing Trauma
The more you feel seen and heard in the counseling space, the more you will be able to develop meaningful coping skills that will help you better regulate your emotions and find stability when you’re overwhelmed. I want to offer you a safe space where you feel welcome to explore, identify core issues, and manage the effects of trauma in a healthy way.
As a somatic therapist, I believe that healing the mind-body connection is the key to reducing trauma-related symptoms like anxiety and overwhelm. Using approaches like Somatic Experiencing and Dynamic Attachment and Repatterning experience (DARe), my goal is to help clients better understand themselves, their symptoms, and their attachments as they foster a more resilient and adaptable mind-body connection.
What To Expect In The Treatment Process
Therapy teaches you how to tune in and listen to what the body is telling you, even if the mind has a different story. Working together in trauma treatment, you can learn how to tolerate discomfort and process traumatic experiences in a way that allows you to let go of the past and take meaningful steps toward the future.
Some of the core aspects of trauma therapy are:
Mindfulness – developing the ability to remain present and grounded in the present
Body awareness – recognizing bodily symptoms and understanding their relationship to emotions
Self-regulation – learning to manage physiological responses to stress and emotional dysregulation
Emotional intelligence – enhancing the ability to identify, express, and process emotions in a healthy way
Stress reduction – employing techniques to reduce stress and anxiety
Boundary setting – understanding and asserting personal space and limits
Impulse control – gaining skills to manage and redirect impulsive behaviors
Trauma processing – facilitating the integration of traumatic memories
Resilience – building capacity to recover from and adapt to challenging situations
As you gain these skills in therapy, you will create an entirely new relationship with your trauma that is not dictated by fear. In learning to let go of past wounds, you can chart a new path toward a life where you are thriving—and not just surviving.
Commonly Asked Questions About Therapy For Trauma
How is your approach to trauma treatment different than traditional talk therapy?
My somatic approach to trauma treatment goes beyond conventional talk therapy by incorporating the body into the healing process. As a holistic approach, this form of treatment honors all of the ways your mind, body, and spirit can work in tandem to reduce the pain you feel in your life. Through processing trauma that has been stored in the body for weeks, months, or years, you will experience a more comprehensive and embodied recovery.
How long will it be until I see results from therapy?
While the timeline for healing from trauma varies greatly between individuals—typically based on complexity of the trauma, life circumstances, and individual resilience—many clients report experiencing some level of relief and a greater sense of body awareness after just a few sessions of therapy.
I will work at a pace that feels comfortable for you, and I am invested in creating a counseling space that lends itself to gradual, sustainable trauma recovery.
I am afraid that discussing my trauma in therapy will only make me feel worse.
While it is likely that you will experience some intensification of emotions or physical sensations as you process your trauma in counseling, that is a good sign—it means your body is starting to process and integrate repressed experiences.
My somatic approach to trauma treatment offers you tools for navigating challenging emotions and moving through pain towards a place of growth and healing.
Sustained Healing Is Possible
If you struggle with daily symptoms of stress, anxiety, and overwhelm, therapy offers you an opportunity to address underlying trauma in a way that will foster resilience. For more information about how I can help or to schedule a session with me, get in touch.
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