Trauma Therapy

Is a distressing event from your past causing you ongoing anxiety or fear?

Do you regularly feel uncomfortable or as though your body is holding onto a painful memory?

Does a lingering sense of shame cause you to become avoidant or detached from others? 

Major life events and instances of assault and abuse are categorized as common traumas. But the truth is that any situation that creates distress or disturbance is traumatic and can result in ongoing emotional, physical, and psychic pain. Moreover, trauma lives in the body, causing you to hold onto the same mind-body responses you had when the original traumatic event took place. 

When triggered, you may feel panicked or hyperalert. Perhaps you have flashbacks, nightmares, or struggle with insomnia. You may have trouble focusing or experience disassociation, which is a profound disconnect during everyday situations and conversations. 

Maybe feelings of extreme isolation have you feeling alienated and misunderstood, inadvertently affecting your relationships. You might experience severe social anxiety or fear being around new people, or perhaps you have trouble connecting in your close relationships. It could be that residual feelings of anger or resentment have created tension with those close to you, as you believe that they could never fully understand what happened to you.

At the center of a vast array of mental health issues is often one or many traumatic experiences. When stored in the body, these experiences can trigger you on a daily basis and make life lonely, uncomfortable, and unsettling. But in therapy, you can target painful memories and find the path to healing from your trauma. 

As Humans, We’re All Subjected To Traumatic Experiences

We try to convince ourselves that trauma only develops in tragic or catastrophic situations—such as child abuse and neglect, physical or sexual assault, military combat, accidents, and natural disasters. The truth is, however, that none of us are immune from triggering and unexpected circumstances. This means that the everyday challenges affecting people across the globe, including grief and loss, systemic oppression, emotional and psychological abuse, and community violence, have the potential of creating long-term distress on our minds and bodies. 

The way that we interpret the events that traumatize us will ultimately determine how much the event will impact our lives. And usually, when a traumatic event takes place, we develop protective measures that may take the form of hypervigilance, anxiety, and fight-or-flight behaviors that will prevent us from being vulnerable in the future. This response then becomes automatically stored in our brains for the next time we feel in danger—even if such coping mechanisms are ultimately unhealthy and keeping us stuck. 

It makes sense, then, why so many mental health challenges eventually boil down to some kind of trauma or internalized distress. Many times, trauma lies at the root of symptoms associated with depression, anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), substance abuse and addiction, suicidal ideation, and eating disorders, among others. 

It may feel impossible to break the patterns or behaviors of our bodies when they react to distressing events or situations. However, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a highly effective treatment model that can help you reprocess and heal from your trauma. 

Therapy Allows You To Reprocess And Neutralize Trauma

When triggered, it’s likely you’ve become so accustomed to uncomfortable physical and emotional reactions that you find it hard to pinpoint exactly where your distress originated. But in therapy, you can peel back the layers of your anxiety, depression, and other mental health obstacles to truly understand the impact that your trauma has on you. 

Beginning with an initial intake, I will work to understand your symptoms, history, and goals for trauma treatment. Perhaps you endured a major life event—such as child neglect and abuse or emotionally/verbally abusive parents, assault, or a profound loss—and are aware of where your trauma began. Or maybe you struggle with lingering symptoms of depression, anxiety, and setbacks in your relationships but are unsure of the source of your troubles. Whatever the case may be, we will sort through your trauma at a comfortable pace, easing into the gentle treatment of EMDR therapy. 

EMDR uses visual, auditory, and touch patterns to target the specific memory or belief that’s keeping you stuck. As you focus your attention on a specific pattern, your brain’s pathways get rerouted so you can create new feelings and associations with the distressing experience—eventually neutralizing how the memory is stored in your body. As a result, you’ll feel more relaxed and aware of the negative self-conceptions holding you back. 

With this newfound understanding, you can more effectively explore the areas of your life that aren’t working and develop better skills for coping. And as you gain more awareness of the self-beliefs created as a result of your trauma, you will learn new, affirming ways of relating to yourself and the world around you. 

You don’t have to feel stuck in a cycle of distress and disconnect any longer. Working together with a therapist, you can feel safe to explore your experiences and conquer trauma. Therapy allows you to create new meaning and heal from the pains of your past—and it all begins in trauma treatment.

Perhaps you’re ready to see a therapist about your trauma, but you still have concerns… 

It would be easier for me to just stuff my trauma down inside rather than talk about it in therapy. 

I understand that it is very painful to talk about your trauma with a therapist and deal with the discomfort that comes up when recalling the event. The problem with suppressing the memory, however, is that trauma becomes stuck in your body, causing you to constantly feel triggered without even knowing it. 

EMDR therapy is an effective and gentle way of targeting the trauma stored in your brain, reworking your neural pathways so that you don’t feel as uncomfortable or distressed. Though it can be difficult to recall certain events or memories at the time of treatment, therapy has the potential to heal and provide lasting relief. 

I worry that therapy is going to force me to discuss my trauma at length and memories that I’d rather not remember.

The wonderful and unique thing about treatment using EMDR is that it doesn’t require you to rehash your trauma. We will not be digging up uncomfortable memories but instead creating specific targets that can help you feel less distressed and more at ease. And we will always move at a pace that works for you. 

Will I ever heal?

Though it may feel like you will never escape the cycle of pain that your trauma has inflicted upon you, it is possible for you to feel safe and comfortable again. 

I want to reiterate that EMDR therapy is an exceptionally effective treatment for trauma that often provides my clients with a sense of relief in just a matter of sessions. As such, EMDR tends to work more quickly to target trauma than other treatments. 

You Can Heal And Move Forward

If you feel distressed and held back by trauma, therapy can help you find peace and lasting relief from your symptoms. To learn more about how I can help or to schedule a free consultation, please contact me.

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