Trauma Therapy

Has A Past Experience Made It Hard To Feel Present In Your Life?

Are you dealing with intrusive thoughts, memories, and/or flashbacks?

Do you struggle with low self-esteem and lack of confidence? 

Are you ready to take back your power and heal from the pain of the past?

Maybe you suffered from childhood trauma, a significant loss, a long-term toxic relationship, or physical, sexual and emotional abuse. The experience may have left you vulnerable, hurt, and scared. As a result, you might have trouble trusting others and struggle to establish healthy boundaries. Deep down, you probably wish that there was someone trustworthy you could lean on to provide emotional safety.

Trauma Is A Universal Struggle, But Its Effects Are Often Subtle

According to the National Center for PTSD, about 70 to 90 percent of the US population experiences a traumatic event in their lifetime.* Some people with trauma in their past suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), while others deal with subtler effects from their experience. In many cases, they struggle with anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues without knowing that it’s because of trauma. 

It’s important to know that trauma is an umbrella term for lots of different experiences. Ending a relationship, dealing with a chronic illness, suffering from sexual abuse, and grieving the loss of a loved one can all be traumatic. So can a toxic relationship where physical and emotional boundaries aren’t respected. 

Many Trauma Survivors Talk Themselves Out Of Getting Help

They often downplay what happened, telling themselves that “it happened a long time ago” and “other people have been through worse.” If they suffered from physical, sexual and emotional abuse, they might blame themselves for the other person’s actions in order to deflect from their own pain. What’s more, many survivors are afraid of the repercussions of coming forward about their trauma—especially if it involves someone in the family. 

But ignoring trauma never makes it go away. In fact, there are many cases where childhood trauma leads to further emotional problems in adulthood, like depression, anxiety, and relationship troubles. In therapy, you have the chance to talk about your trauma with someone who will hold your story sacred and validate your experience so that you can safely work through the pain of the past.

Therapy Can Help You Heal From Trauma And Take Back Your Power 

You are not alone. We are here to support you. We’ve helped many people recover from trauma and we are confident that we can help you do the same. Therapy gives you a safe and empowering space to work through the effects of trauma and develop the skills to manage its impact on your life.

Whether you’ve suffered from sexual abuse, domestic violence, grief and loss, issues from your childhood, or any other form of trauma, The Place for Counseling is committed to helping survivors heal, grow, and thrive. 

What To Expect In Trauma Therapy Sessions

Together, you and your therapist will work on understanding how trauma has impacted your life and what you can do to loosen its grip on you. You’ll learn to build grit and resilience, but you’ll also experience safety and compassion. Your therapist will help you come up with new coping skills for staying calm and grounded in addition to helping you build a stronger support system. 

Additionally, you’ll explore the unconscious ways that trauma has affected your behavior. By making the unconscious conscious, you can change the way you respond to trauma so that you don’t resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms (such as isolating or using drugs and alcohol).

Tailoring Your Trauma Treatment Plan

At The Place for Counseling we have multiple talented and skilled therapists that specialize in different approaches to helping you work through your trauma.

(EMDR) Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy: By using EMDR protocols, your therapist will use EMDR therapy to activate the body’s own nature healing processes. Physiological symptoms of trauma will decrease during sessions, allowing you to feel more regulated and less triggered.

Art Therapy is a powerful approach to trauma. Our Art Therapist combines other therapy approaches such as (DBT) Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, (CBT) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and (ACT) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to create a multiple layered approach to treating trauma that can enrich and deepen your results. Utilizing creative art activities in therapy can be particularly helpful when it is hard to talk about painful issues. It also is a great tool for addressing parts of your trauma that have been difficult to address with other techniques.

Narrative Therapy- With this approach to trauma therapy, you can “re-author” your story. Engaging in this process is so empowering when you’ve experienced trauma or abuse. It can help you challenge negative beliefs you’ve formed about yourself, such as the idea that you’re “broken” or powerless to change your circumstances. 

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is another tool to help you overcome the negative thought patterns that trauma caused. This is specifically useful in working with children and teens and adults in working through sexual and physical abuse.

In the end, it’s important to remember that healing from trauma and abuse is not a linear process. There are always ups and downs. But when you have a supportive and compassionate therapist with you, recovery is always possible.

You May Have Some Questions About Trauma And PTSD Therapy…

Will I have to relive my trauma?

No, you won’t! Therapy should never require you to revisit your trauma in a way that feels overwhelming or unsafe. The main thing is that we understand how trauma affected you, not all the details of what happened. A skilled therapist can help you work through trauma in a safe and gradual way that feels manageable for you.

What if I’m judged for my trauma?

We are here to empower you, not judge you. If no one has believed you or taken your story seriously, we want to be the ones who do. Besides, even if you think that your trauma was “not that bad,” the fact that you’re reading this page shows that it’s worth seeking help for. We see clients with a wide range of traumatic experiences and we strive to validate all their stories. 

What if my trauma is too severe or complex to be treated?

Trauma can be treated at any age and any stage, regardless of severity and complexity. The pain that you’ve held inside for your entire life doesn’t have to stay there. Healing can absolutely happen. In the meantime, we encourage you to be kind to yourself. Just as trauma’s effects may have lingered for a long time, recovery doesn’t happen overnight. Everyone heals at a pace that’s natural for them and sometimes the most powerful healing of all takes a while to reach fruition.

You Don’t Have To Keep Living In The Shadow Of The Past

You can wipe out the stain of trauma and step boldly and fearlessly into a happier future. If you want to experience the healing power of trauma therapy for yourself, we encourage you to contact us. If a particular approach or therapist sounds like they may be a good fit, let us know when you call. If you are unsure, we are more that happy to explore what might work best for you.

* Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms among Older Adults: A Review - PTSD: National Center for PTSD (va.gov)