Trauma

Trauma is both defined and experienced in many ways, and can have life-altering, significant impact on a person. Trauma changes our brain chemistry and can cause us to behave in ways we don’t understand.

How Therapy Can Help With Emotional Distress & Trauma

Therapy can help you to understand why you are behaving in ways that may not make sense even to you, and learn new ways of handling triggers. With time, you will learn to regain control over your brain and be able to feel in control over those events, rather than feeling like they still control you.

My Approach to Treating Clients With Emotional Distress & Trauma

I work with trauma in a variety of ways, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) being one of the most popular and effective. I listen for the negative beliefs you’ve internalized about yourself resulting from the trauma (i.e. “I’m not safe, I’m not in control”), and help you to pinpoint not just those thoughts, but the behaviors you have as a result of those thoughts. Once we find those negative cognitions and resulting behaviors, we can work to create an environment in your brain where safety and control take over, returning you to your level of functioning before the trauma.

Things to Consider

Trauma work can be triggering, but extremely important, big-picture. It is important that you feel safe with me, as well as emotionally stable enough to begin addressing your trauma, in order to truly put it behind you.