Trauma Therapy
Are You Struggling To Move Forward After A Traumatic Event?
Have you experienced a painful life event, either directly or indirectly? Are you:
- The victim of bullying or verbal, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse?
- Struggling to navigate a major life change, such as divorce, medical illness, or the loss of a loved one?
- Having difficulty processing your emotions over what happened to you?
Maybe the impact of your trauma has persisted as physical symptoms, such as fatigue, trouble sleeping, headaches, digestive issues, or shortness of breath. Or perhaps your trauma has more seriously manifested as anxiety, depression, or complete emotional numbness.
The Symptoms Of Trauma Can Manifest Differently In Kids And Adults
Both adults and kids often struggle to stop thinking about the traumatic event or experience intrusive thoughts or images related to it.
Regardless of age, if you have experienced trauma, you probably find it difficult to stop thinking about the past. Negative thoughts or intrusive imagery can disrupt your ability to function, and symptoms, such as social withdrawal, self-blame, shame, or anger, can become more and more pronounced. And if you are the parent of a child coping with trauma, they may be experiencing nightmares, trouble concentrating, changes in appetite, a regression in social skills, or poor academic performance.
Fortunately, you can break free from this cycle and move forward with your life. Trauma therapy with Center For Resiliency can help you both alleviate and manage your short-term symptoms while also building toward long-term healing.
Almost Everyone Experiences Trauma At Some Point
Trauma is always unique and subjective, and yet it is also pretty much universal. It would even be fair to say that just about every single person undergoes some form of trauma at some point in their life. One major cause of trauma is ACEs, or Adverse Childhood Experiences.
According to the CDC, “about 64% of U.S. adults reported they had experienced at least one type of ACE before age 18, and nearly 1 in 6 (17.3 percent) reported they had experienced four or more types of ACEs” (1). And, unsurprisingly, many of those who experience ACE–related trauma never receive any treatment at all.
Trauma-Related Symptoms Can Arise For Numerous Reasons
Several other factors can influence the development of these symptoms as well. These include the severity of the trauma, our proximity to the trauma, how significant people in our lives react to the trauma, and how past belief systems influence the way we internalize the trauma.
With the help of a dedicated trauma specialist, however, you can take control of the situation together. You can also work with your therapist to process your trauma in a way that leaves you feeling safer, more confident, and more at peace.
Trauma Therapy Can Help You Reclaim Your Life
When you have experienced any form of trauma, it can sometimes feel like you will never fully be able to let go of it or get past it. And yet, by working with an engaged trauma counselor, you can acquire the skills for self-care, self-soothing, and self-healing.
Trauma counseling allows you to cultivate a safe space in your everyday life where you can feel validated by someone who listens and cares. We are warm, consistent, compassionate, and supportive trauma experts, and we encourage you to set your own pace for healing both inside and outside of counseling.
What You Can Expect From Therapy Sessions
In the intake session, your counselor will gather further information about your history, your symptoms, and your larger goals for trauma therapy. Your therapist will then build off this information, working directly with you to create a custom treatment plan to address your specific symptoms and how trauma has impacted your life.
During sessions, you can expect to feel seen, heard, and validated—consistently! Although therapy can feel uncomfortable at times, we will show you how to safely identify core beliefs, challenge fears, and manage intense emotions related to trauma.
You will learn how to process painful memories and restructure your thoughts to create a more balanced and helpful mindset. We will also offer you gentle guidance on how to reduce the heightened bodily sensations produced by your traumatic experience. Our long-term goal is to help you feel consistently safe, confident, and able to move forward.
Treatment Approaches That Fit Your Specific Needs
Your therapist will have a variety of treatment methods at hand to address your trauma-related symptoms. These include:
- Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – A treatment method that identifies negative thoughts, beliefs, and emotions, CBT helps you make conscious changes about how you think, feel, and interact with the world.
- Trauma-Focused Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) – A modality based on CBT, DBT was specifically designed to help you deal with very intense or difficult emotions.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) – A non-cognitive form of therapy, EMDR seeks to reduce the intensity of painful memories and sensations related to trauma.
- Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) – A modality that identifies and explores different aspects of your personality, IFS focuses on healing the wounded parts of yourself that overrule other parts.
- Narrative Storytelling Therapy – An approach that harnesses the power of stories, narrative storytelling reshapes your trauma into a healthier understanding of it.
- Somatic Therapy – A method that focuses on identifying and releasing trauma and psychological pain trapped in your body, somatic therapy targets the physical roots of your trauma.
Together, you and your trauma counselor will develop a tailored treatment approach based on a combination of these modalities. With the help and support of your therapist, you can identify triggers, heal past wounds, and reestablish a lasting sense of safety.
You may still have concerns about Trauma Therapy
I do not want to relive the trauma.
The point of therapy is not to reexperience the trauma but to create a new experience of what happened. We create that new experience in therapy by understanding your memories through a new lens. We let your body experience a sense of relaxation and calmness while accessing thoughts and memories of the trauma, which reduces your overall psychological and emotional distress.
If I open up emotionally, I might fall apart.
You dictate the pace of your healing both inside and outside of the counseling session. Your trauma therapist will also foster a strong sense of safety in you before encouraging you to connect with your stronger emotions. Gradually, and within a safe and contained space, you and your trauma counselor will confront those emotions and apply skills to reduce their intensity.
I am damaged; therapy will not fix that.
The reality is that you do not deserve to feel that way. Although the past cannot be changed, how you view and experience yourself can change. Both the body and the brain have a natural inclination toward healing—and that capacity is not external but purely your own internal resource. Trauma counseling can help you accelerate that healing process.