Therapy For Trauma
If left untreated and unprocessed, past traumas can unknowingly shape the decisions you make and the relationships you form.
Perhaps you’ve been living with unresolved trauma, and you don’t even know it.
Have you experienced something painful? It may have happened once or over a period of time.
And ever since then, if you really think about it, there may be inklings of a subconscious fear that different versions of the event might happen again.
In your mind, this might sound like…
What if I get stuck in this situation and can’t get out?
What if they don’t respect my boundaries when I vocalize them?
What if you say something wrong and they blow up all of the sudden?
They’re nice right now but what if they change and show their true colors?
Sometimes, it feels like you’re walking on eggshells. It’s hard to trust people. Or, maybe you feel broken. You’re filled with self-doubt. You constantly criticize yourself. You keep yourself numbed or distracted through phone scrolling, social media, achievements, social outings, but if you really look within, you feel disconnected from others. You feel disconnected from yourself. You’re emotionally numb. These are just a few of the many symptoms you could experience.
Address the root of your trauma so you can move from surviving to thriving. Courage does not always roar.
Trauma can take many forms.
Were you put down and belittled?
Were you raised in a chaotic, unsafe, or unstable environment?
Have you experienced race-based, intergenerational, or immigration trauma?
Were you physically or sexually threatened or hurt?
Did you experience betrayal? Rejection? Ongoing blame?
Traumatic and painful experiences can disrupt our sense of safety and stability and our ability to trust others or ourselves. They can make us prone to feelings of shame, guilt, isolation, or hypervigilance. These ways of living and being can be all that someone knows. It may be hard to even imagine or know that life can be different.
Cognitive Signs
you might think…
– “Is this really happening? Is it just me?”
– “Is there just something wrong with me?”
– “Why am I overreacting to such a small thing?”
It can seem almost as if there are no words to describe what happened…as if your ability to put what happened into words been lost or disabled.
You might experience…
– Flashbacks
– Memory lapses: especially memory loss of times surrounding the trauma.
– Frequent dwelling on what happened, replaying the situation in your head
– Intrusive thoughts of the situation
– Uncontrollable reactive thoughts
Emotional Signs
– Guilt
– Hopelessness/helplessness
– Irritability/anger triggered by certain cues
– Feeling as though one is permanently damaged
– Mood swings
– Not feeling fully present. You feel blank, numb, or detached, particularly when triggered – this is dissociation
-Feeling ashamed. You want to hide. You want to keep this part of your life/self a secret
– Fear or anxiety about the situation happening again (For example, “What if this person betrays me again?”)
Behavioral & Physical Signs
– Withdrawal from others
– Avoidance of anything, anyone, or any place that reminds you of the situation
– Loss of interest in hobbies/activities that you used to enjoy
– Insomnia or excessive sleep
– Nightmares
– Obsession and/or compulsions
– Self-sabotaging occupational or lifestyle choices.
Physical Symptoms:
– Easily startled
– Fatigue and exhaustion
– Chronic physical pains
– Headaches
– Chronic muscle tension
– Shifts in sleeping patterns
Trauma can be stored as a memory within your body.
Our Approach to Treating Trauma
We specialize in treating trauma, including:
✓ sexual trauma
✓ complex trauma
✓ intimate partner violence
✓ domestic violence
Our approach is individualized and trauma-informed. Trauma, whether or not it has been consciously recognized, has a complex influence on all parts of our lives, bodies, and mental and emotional world. Trauma-informed therapy means that our approach to you will be tailored to your specific trauma history, triggers, and needs with a goal of empowerment and healing.
Here are some ways we might begin to address your trauma:
𖥸 Make sense of your experiences at your pace
𖥸 Identify triggers to the emotional, psychological, and physical reactions that may have been developed for self-protection
𖥸 Process feelings and memories you may have avoided, perhaps because of how confusing and painful they are
𖥸 Cultivate new coping skills
𖥸 Reconnect with your self and live more in the present instead of being stuck in the past
Through this process, strong emotions will eventually become less scary and intense because you will learn to express and understand them. Your past does not have to define your present. In a safe and support environment, it is possible to heal.