Trauma Therapy
Trauma is our response to
what happened to us, and what we were deprived of.
While trauma can be a distressing event (or multiple events) that you experienced, such as violence, abuse, death of a loved one, an accident, racism, etc., it can also be the lack of emotional safety, lack of unconditional love and acceptance in relationships, inability to trust others (or ourselves), etc.
You find yourself thinking about the event/events at random moments, almost as if you are “stuck” in or reliving the memory.
It may be hard to relax, slow down, or even fall asleep. You need to have your “guard up” at all times. You may even need to use substances to calm yourself down enough to “relax” and “forget” about it.
You may distance yourself from others because they don’t get it. Or, it is too much for you, so how could others understand?
The goal would be a life without being unexpectedly triggered, “on edge”, or unable to trust others or your surroundings, but it feels impossible. You may be left feeling shameful, embarrassed. At times, you may even feel disgusting, unloveable, or unworthy.
My Approach to Trauma Therapy
Trauma therapy typically happens through different phases (though they don’t always happen in order).
Our focus:
Recognition of Symptoms/Impact of Trauma
By recognizing what you are going through and minimizing judgment towards yourself, we are able to offer you the support and care you deserve.
Establishing Safety and Stability
Our main priority is to support you in gaining a sense of safety within yourself to build your self trust. We prioritize exploration of coping techniques that work for you to build your stress tolerance.
Processing your Experience
Because your brain is wired for survival, it can become stuck in “survival mode” even when there is no active threat. We will help your body and brain to process what it has held onto with a tool called Brainspotting.
Mourning/Grieving
You deserve a chance to mourn/grieve; grieve what was taken from you, what was done to you, what you were deprived of. We will have an opportunity to experience your grief without being “stuck” in the past.
Connect/Re-connect with Yourself
Once you have space between yourself and the trauma, it will no longer dictate who you are, how you show up, or what you do. You will have the capacity to decide what you want for yourself, and identify realistic steps to make it happen!