"Trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body."
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a mental health condition that can develop after someone experiences or witnesses a very scary, dangerous, or traumatic event. This could be something like a bad car accident, a natural disaster, physical or sexual assault, or even combat during war.
But PTSD doesn’t necessarily have to follow what others would consider a traumatic event. It’s all about how it affected you and your ability to access a felt sense of safety in your body. In fact, it’s important for you to know that PTSD is a normal response to an abnormal situation. It’s your body getting stuck in a state where it continues to try to save you or help you when you are no longer in danger.
If you have PTSD, you might find that you keep reliving the traumatic event, even though it’s over. You might have vivid flashbacks that make you feel like you’re right back in the middle of the trauma. You may also have upsetting nightmares about it.
A lot of people with PTSD try to avoid anything that reminds them of the trauma. They might stay away from certain places, people, or activities that bring up memories of what happened. This can make daily life really difficult.
PTSD can also cause you to feel on edge or on high alert all the time. You might startle easily, have trouble sleeping, or feel irritable and on guard. It’s like your body and mind are always expecting something bad to happen, even when you’re safe.
C-PTSD (or Complex PTSD) runs even deeper. It typically arises from repeated or prolonged trauma, rather than a one-time incident. This could include things like childhood abuse, domestic violence, human trafficking, or living through war. With C-PTSD, the trauma becomes woven into the very fabric of a person’s life and sense of self.
Imagine growing up in a home where you never felt safe or cared for – where you were constantly walking on eggshells, never knowing when the next outburst or attack would come. This type of chronic, relentless trauma can leave deep scars.
Flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts about the trauma
Difficulty regulating emotions – feeling overwhelmed by feelings of fear, shame, or despair
Problems with relationships and socializing, due to trust issues and feelings of disconnection
Negative self-image and beliefs, like “I’m damaged” or “I’ll never be able to have a normal life”
Difficulty concentrating and feeling numb or detached from the world around them
In short, C-PTSD can also profoundly disrupt every aspect of a person’s life. The trauma becomes like an unwelcome houseguest that never leaves, affecting how they think, feel, and interact with others.
Through my own trauma recovery and through my early missteps as a therapist, I learned what not to do and what has made a positive difference. But in the last several years, I’ve spent much of my time digging into the latest evidenced-based practices for effective trauma treatment.
During our time together, I will guide you through somatic (body-based) practices to learn how to feel safe in your body again. Through trauma-informed CBT, you will relearn how to distinguish between a real threat and a perceived one and challenge any unhelpful belief patterns that emerged during or after your trauma. With IFS (Internal Family Systems) you will identify the parts of you that had to step in to help you get through what you experienced, discover how to distinguish them from your core Self, and learn how to let Self lead.
Through these methods, you will be empowered to make sense of your trauma, challenge unhelpful beliefs, understand and heal the conflicting parts of you, and regain a sense of safety, control, self-worth, and connection in your life.
How do I know this will work for me?
That’s a great question! And one you should be asking. Each of therapeutic modalities mentioned have been shown to not just reduce the symptoms of PTSD and CPTSD, but I can also attest to how they change the whole of your life for the better. These methods help ground you in your body in the present moment, experience a felt sense of safety, which then allows you to reengage the part of your brain that controls thinking and logic and choice, and address those voices conflicting for supremacy in your head. Feel free to read more about my specialty modalities below!
Will I be asked to relive my traumatic moments?
Trauma requires compassion and sensitivity – not just from you, but from me. You will never to be asked to do or share something that would be too overwhelming for you. If we collectively believe it would be helpful to work through the details of your painful moments, we will never enter those memories without first anchoring to a felt sense of safety in the present moment. With trauma, we often work with our bodies first to address our nervous system needs before accessing the traumatic material (if necessary).
What if I don’t know if I have trauma?
If you’ve come here seeking knowledge or help, trust that it is for a reason. Far too often, I find people getting hung up on trying to diagnose themselves, and understandably so. Some want to know to understand themselves better or to not feel ‘crazy’ or alone in their struggles. And what worthy and normal desires they are. If you know you don’t feel ok in your body and/or in your environment, that is enough to reach out for help. We’ll figure out the rest together.
What if therapy makes things worse?
Choosing to forgo or delay therapy often exacerbates the problem. But I also don’t want to mislead you…in coming to therapy, you are choosing to lean into your pain – maybe for the first time – and leaning into pain can be, well, painful. But it is the avoidance of pain that leads to suffering as the pain just screams louder to be noticed and dealt with.
So yes, things can sometimes hurt more before they get better, but that is because we are finally feeling what has been there all along. And through feeling, we realize our own strength and resilience and make space for all the wonderful things within us.
If you would like to schedule an appointment or a free consultation to discuss any questions you have regarding trauma therapy, click the link below.
We are excited for you to take your life back!
"Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths." - Etty Hillesum
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