Trauma

Trauma is not what happens to you, it’s what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you. Trauma is that scarring that makes you less flexible, more rigid, less feeling and more defended. ~Dr. Gabor Maté

Two people may experience the same or similar events and have completely different reactions. Trauma is an emotional response to a distressing event, usually an intense response. The trauma becomes an imprint on our ability to feel safe, secure, and comfortable.

Our response may be based on our lack of coping skills, support system, or emotional regulation. It may be learned behavior or the way our genes were expressed. In a case with two siblings with an alcoholic parent, one may never drink and the other may become an alcoholic. When asked why? each sibling would reply, “I learned it from my parent.” Two vastly different outcomes to the same distressing event. Your trauma is your own internal feeling, it is valid.

Trauma, PTSD, and C-PTSD

You may be seeking counseling to learn, grow, and ultimately, heal. You may be in need of empathy and validation. I am here to help you feel seen and heard in the way that is right for you. I offer a safe and compassionate environment to hold space for you. I also will incorporate some somatic practices to help you feel safe and at home in your own body again. The Body Keeps the Score is the aptly titled best selling book from Dr. Bessel van der Kolk. Physical symptoms of trauma may be holding you back from the life you imagine. Somatic practices can be your first step towards regulating your nervous system to find some control and peace in your life again. I offer these somatic and polyvagal therapies for trauma.

You may experience trauma without a diagnosis. Trauma can be a single event, it can be a certain situation or experience, and it can be an on-going experience that happened to you in the past or is happening to you now. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an official diagnosis and might be basically described as singular or limited trauma, easily identifiable triggers, life threatening in some way, and often causing flashbacks. Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) is also caused by trauma, usually long-term exposure or multiple instances of trauma, often through relationships (family, parents, care-givers, romantic partners, school systems, or other institutions), may have been obviously life threatening or caused that feeling and response in your body (fight/flight/fawn), and may have various triggers, flashbacks, and dissociation.

Healing Trauma

Speaking your truth, bringing awareness to what happened to you, and putting aside the gaslighting that you experienced are all powerful first steps. Educating yourself about C-PTSD and asking for help are essential next steps. You did not cause this or bring it on yourself, you do not have to heal from it all on your own either. Healing can happen by taking control of your narrative. Dr. Peter Levine describes trauma as something that happens to us without an empathetic witness. You can find that empathetic witness in counseling. A trained trauma counselor is there to hold space for you and your past, as well as give you the tools to reshape your story and stay grounded and present in the life you are now in control of shaping for yourself.

Counseling can be your safe space to process events and speak your truth out loud.

I offer narrative therapy for trauma. Narrative therapy can help you make sense of your story. I offer EMDR, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, for trauma. EMDR can help you process memories, thoughts, and feelings from trauma. EMDR may provide relief from trauma by providing you with the control to see it through a new lens. EMDR may allow you to take control back over your stress responses. EMDR can also be a less talk intensive therapy if you are struggling with the words.

Trauma therapy offers tools to help you feel connected to yourself and your body again. It can give you the skills to stay grounded and present, recognize your triggers, bring awareness to how it is manifesting in your life, and with these skills and therapy approaches, the symptoms of trauma often decrease.

I am EMDR trained for trauma, a trauma informed yoga teacher 200YTT, trauma treatment trained with Janina Fisher, and have attended numerous trauma conference trainings.

Call or email today to schedule a FREE 15 minute phone consultation. Finding the right therapist for you is an important step.