Everything you want is on the other side of fear.

You might have friends, but you feel uneasy all the time and don’t want to leave your safe zone. Your friends would never understand what you’re going through and you don’t want to burden them. You worry if they will judge you, thinking you should just get over it. Or you’ll lose them as friends if they really knew what was really going on. And the last thing you want to do is to get into a new relationship.

You worry that if you can’t slow down your heart rate and calm yourself, you won’t be able to sleep or make clear decisions. Your exhaustion can cause you to feel stuck – unable to decide … going back and forth between two choices when you try to work. You have extreme fears you’ll make the wrong choice. You have poor time management and sometimes you can’t even make a decision about how to approach your work.

There are loud sounds and everything feels overwhelming. You’re out of your comfort zone. You don’t want to do anything in person – work or social. Your family and your boss seem concerned. If you can’t leave the house, you’ll lose your job and your friends.

The headaches come and go. You wonder whether they’re migraines or cluster headaches. Your body has mysterious pain and you feel fatigued. You’ve heard of fibromyalgia and other inflammatory illnesses. You wonder if there’s a link between your chronic pain and your past. The pain and fatigue is impacting your work and your relationships. You’re not able to focus a lot of the time.

You struggle to fall asleep. Are you even scared to go to sleep? You often have bad dreams, sometimes waking up remembering them, and sometimes feeling blank. Without good sleep, you can’t be present at work and in your relationships. You worry you’ll lose everything that’s important to you.

I hear from clients all the time, “what has happened to me doesn’t really qualify as trauma, does it? It’s so minor compared to what others experience.” The answer involves two parts.

First part: there are Big T and Little t Traumas. Big T Traumas usually involve violence or disaster. Big T Traumas might include things like a plane crashes or the death of a close member of your family. Seeing frightening or dangerous events qualify as trauma too. Little t Traumas are events that don’t involve violence or disaster. They might include the breakup of a relationship or the death of a pet. All of the above qualifies as trauma.

Second part: humans are unique, have different levels of sensitivities, and respond differently to events. For example, there are many people who might feel the loss of their beloved pet a Big T trauma. In my practice and in my own life, I’ve noticed how impactful moving homes and losing pets has been.

Counseling for trauma helps people process traumatic events and any lasting effects, such as watchfulness, anxiety, or trouble with sleep.

There are many techniques that can be helpful during trauma counseling. These would include talk therapy, or more somatic (body) approaches such as EMDR Therapy or IFS Therapy (link to specialty pages). The important thing is for you to find the technique that works for you.

We will rate your anxiety baseline in your first session. We’ll then keep track of how you’re doing so that we can monitor improvement and collaborate on any adjustments you might need to therapy if things aren’t improving for you.

Yes. I offer counseling for childhood trauma, attachment trauma, and complex trauma.

There are a variety of counseling theories that can help folx heal from trauma. Common theories include: CPT, exposure, narrative exposure, prolonged exposure therapy, trauma-focused CBT, and EMDR. Many of these theories require a great deal of focus on reliving or re-experiencing the traumatic event.

My practice uses EMDR and IFS, approaches that are softer and gentler in many ways. EMDR only requires that you focus on a brief description of what happened and why it’s traumatic. IFS only requires that you focus on negative memories and experiences only enough to allow them to release. There is no repetitive recalling of uncomfortable events or memories or experiences as in various exposure-type therapies.

Therapy for trauma ranges from traditional talk therapy to various body-based (somatic) therapies such as EMDR or IFS. Therapy for trauma aims at treating the emotional and mental health consequences of trauma.

That’s a great question. While it can take several months or even years to gain some of the benefits of counseling for trauma, or trauma therapy, I’ve found that within a few weeks to a month, most people can learn coping skills that can help you feel more present and able to function in your life.

As of 2023, I have treated:

Accidents, including car, motorcycle, work, personal, and medical.

Assaults

Traumatic breakups

Medical Trauma

Sexual Violence

Childhood Neglect

Childhood physical Abuse

Childhood sexual trauma

Attachment Trauma

Traumatic loss of a beloved pet