Trauma Therapy
Are you preoccupied with disturbing thoughts from something you’ve experienced? (I can’t stop replaying this situation in my mind over and over again) Do you find it difficult to move on from specific incidents in your past? (I just can’t seem to let it go, it’s been years and I still feel like this situation just happened) Do you fear you’ll never feel like yourself again? (Ever since this happened, I just haven’t been the same, I don’t know if I’ll ever be ME again).
If any of this sounds familiar, please believe you are not alone.
These feelings may be the result of trauma. Even relatively benign situations can have a traumatic impact and affect the way our brains perceive and interpret information. Many people do not recognize that they have experienced a traumatic event and therefore may not understand why they are feeling distressed. These events may have happened in childhood, or it may have happened yesterday. Trauma changes the way we think, respond and feel and the first step is recognizing that something that we’ve experienced is indeed a trauma.
Our Approach
We utilize different types of therapies to help our clients work through their trauma.
Working through trauma can take on various forms.
Some clients want to work their way through their trauma by discussing what happened in detail. This can help clients uncover aspects of trauma that they hadn’t recognized before or that they avoided thinking about. Some clients want to take their time and really think about and work through their trauma similar to a paleontologist uncovering a priceless historical artifact.
We are here for you.
Other clients may feel like they’ve already worked through that part or that they simply are not interested in doing that, instead, they want to skip to the part where they start to feel better and feel more like themselves again.
We are experienced in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for trauma therapy.
EMDR allows clinicians to help clients work through the traumatic events in their lives. During EMDR therapy sessions, you relive traumatic or triggering experiences in brief doses while the therapist directs your eye/body movements. EMDR is thought to be effective because recalling distressing events is often less emotionally upsetting when your attention is diverted. This allows you to be exposed to traumatic memories or thoughts without having a strong psychological response. Over time, this technique is believed to lessen the impact that the traumatic memories or thoughts have on you.
You may believe therapy can help you but you still have questions about trauma therapy.
Won’t bringing up issues from the past make things worse when I’m trying to move forward?
This is a common fear, but the truth is that many are already thinking about it already and so giving voice to what you are thinking will not make it worse but instead help you to face head-on some of your fears.
But I don't think I've been through any "traumatic" events, how will I know if this type of treatment is right for me?
In psychology we often talk about BIG "T" and little "t" trauma. The BIG "T" trauma are the things we typically think about when we imagine traumatic situations (i.e. battle, sexual assault, physical trauma), but the little "t" traumas have a significant impact on us as well (i.e. chronic poverty, abusive relationships, exposure to violence). Don't underestimate the impact that some little "t's" may be having on your life and how you cope with stress.
Doesn’t dealing with trauma in therapy take a long time?
Not necessarily, there are different types of therapy treatments out there and some are geared at specific types of trauma. The reality is that therapy and specifically trauma therapy does not need to be a long-term endeavor for everyone. Let’s talk and figure out what would work best for you!
Want to schedule an appointment?