Trauma Therapy
Build a future that feels safe.
What is trauma?
Trauma refers to a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that overwhelms an individual's ability to cope with and process the emotions associated with it. Traumatic events can be both physically and emotionally harmful, and they often involve a threat to a person's life or well-being.
Symptoms of Childhood Trauma in Adults
Childhood trauma emerges when a child experiences events or circumstances that shatter their sense of safety and security. This encompasses a range of difficult situations, from living in an unstable home environment or enduring separation from a parent, to battling serious illness, undergoing painful medical procedures, or suffering various forms of abuse, violence, or neglect.
When left unaddressed, the impact of childhood trauma can reverberate throughout adulthood, often manifesting as persistent feelings of fear and helplessness. This unresolved trauma can also increase vulnerability to future traumatic experiences.
The Lasting Impact of Unresolved Trauma
Past experiences of unresolved trauma can deeply shape current behavior. For many, these memories resurface in various forms like reenactments, flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive thoughts, and vivid images, often causing distress. When confronted with these reminders of past trauma, individuals understandably resort to avoidance mechanisms such as busyness, substance use, or avoiding close relationships. Yet, when one set of avoidance tactics fails, people may adopt more, gradually limiting their world. Consequently, unprocessed memories from the past hold significant sway over an individual's present life.
Trauma-Focused Therapy for Adults
Healing from trauma can be tough and sometimes painful, so it's important to work with a therapist who has experience in treating trauma.
Consider seeking treatment for trauma if you are...
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Experiencing mood swings, anger outbursts, or emotional numbing
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Feeling worthlessness, shame, or confusion about your identity
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Patterns of avoidance, fear of intimacy, and difficult with trust are getting in the way of forming and maintaining healthy relationships
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Trouble concentrating, making decisions, or maintaining employment
Why Specialized Trauma-Focused Treatment
Living with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is really tough. It can feel like carrying a heavy backpack that you can't take off. You might notice yourself staying away from friends and family even when you miss them, getting into more arguments than usual, or feeling really angry, sometimes so angry you worry about losing control.
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It's totally normal to want to push away bad memories and feelings - kind of like hiding something scary under your bed. But just like that scary thing under the bed won't actually go away by hiding it, avoiding PTSD feelings only makes them stronger. When you try to ignore these feelings, they often pop up later when you're stressed or tired, like a jack-in-the-box that suddenly springs open.
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The good news is that talking to a therapist can really help. Therapy helps you understand your feelings about what happened, learn ways to deal with tough memories, improve relationships that might have been hurt, and get back to doing things you enjoy.​
Trauma impacts your ability to cope with...
Illness
The experience of illness can be a traumatic event in itself, particularly if it involves ongoing pain, disability, and loss of function. Individuals who have experienced trauma may be at increased risk for developing illnesses, such as autoimmune disorders and cardiovascular disease, due to the long-term impact of stress and trauma on the body.
Loss
Grief is a natural response to loss, and individuals who have experienced trauma may have difficulty processing and accepting their emotions related to loss, particularly if they have a history of attachment difficulties or have experienced multiple losses throughout their life.
Caregiving
Trauma can have a significant impact on caregiver stress. Caregivers of individuals who have experienced trauma may experience high levels of stress, as they may be caring for someone who has a complex set of needs and may struggle to form relationships and connections.
Life Transitions
Trauma can impact how individuals cope with life transitions. Life transitions, such as moving to a new city, starting a new job, or getting married, can be stressful for anyone. However, individuals with a history of traumatic experiences may struggle to cope with these changes due to the significant impact that trauma can have on their ability to form relationships and regulate emotions.