Certain events in our lives can be unbearable. 

Trauma survivors are familiar with the ability to feel strong and fragile at the same time. Even when the traumatic event is over, the feeling of needing to survive can continue. I have worked with individuals healing from physical abuse, sexual assault, rape, medical trauma, emotional abuse, abandonment, severe accidents and more.
My Approach

I approach working with trauma from a somatic psychotherapy perspective. A large body of research is emerging to support body-based approaches to treating trauma, identifying that “talk therapy” is sometimes not enough. Peter Levine PhD, a prominent author and practitioner in the trauma field writes “trauma shocks the brain, freezes the mind and stuns the body.” Somatic psychotherapies treat the whole person: thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, attitudes, beliefs and relationships. If you have survived a trauma, you likely know it impacts each of these areas. 

Many people that I work with have been avoiding treatment for years because the pain and sometimes embarrassment feels too overwhelming. Others want to dive right in and “fix it” - get rid of the memories. Both desires are welcome and completely natural. When a client is having a hard time getting started because the pain is too great, we focus on creating stability in the client’s present moment and creating safety in the therapy relationship. Without this foundation, it can indeed feel too difficult to look at the past. When a client is wanting to jump in and “fix” the trauma, we work together to understand the deep desire to move on and feel better. In both instances, I understand clients to be telling me that they do not want to feel this way anymore. We will identify the most effective and comfortable ways to feel less of the trauma’s weight as we work toward deeper healing.

The first step in my practice is always establishing safety and warmth. This is a prerequisite to working with trauma and it is part of the healing process in and of itself. We do this through building rapport, and exercises that help the body and mind feel safe and regulated during sessions. We also practice skills and learn tools to help you create safety within yourself in daily life. 

Another element of my work with trauma is increasing your sense of healthy control, power and resilience. Increasing resilience within the context of healing from trauma means increasing a client’s ability to experience peace in the present moment, bounce back quickly from triggering experiences, create meaning around the event, and use internal strength to overcome new difficulties even faster than before. When someone is healing I often find that they are able to reach even greater levels of internal strength than before the trauma occurred. Even with serious trauma, there is hope and you can heal.

We can talk more about gaining support recovering from trauma during a free phone consultation.