Is Past Trauma Impacting Your Life?
Was your family life chaotic, rigid, or unstable? Did you feel unsafe like you couldn’t be vulnerable, needful, or dependent for fear your experience would be minimized, devalued, or disregarded? Or that you might be physically harmed? Perhaps you were sexually abused by a family member or someone you trusted. Or you might have been left alone to navigate your world with little guidance or support.
You may have experienced an event as an adult, like rape, or a car crash, or the unexpected death of a loved one that left you feeling emotionally shaken, unsettled, and unsafe in the world.
Do you find it hard to trust others to be there for you when you need them? Has it become difficult to trust even yourself?
Do you wish you could possess the skills and tools to navigate your life in a healthy, meaningful way?
Trauma is More Common Than You Might Think
According to the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention, roughly 60 percent of adults have reported abuse or other difficult family circumstances that occurred during their childhoods. Additionally, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, about 60 percent of men and 50 percent of women experience at least one trauma in their lives.
Abuse or unexpected events like a car crash, rape, or sudden death may not always lead to trauma, but they do for many people. What is deeply traumatizing to one individual may have less of an impact on another, making trauma a uniquely individual experience.
When the people who are entrusted with your care violate that trust by being abusive, neglectful, or unsafe, it can leave you feeling uncertain, unsure, and unsettled. As you try to navigate your emotional and physical world, you may not have a firm internal platform from which to engage yourself and the world around you. As a result, you may find it difficult to trust others and sustain healthy relationships.
When unexpected events are psychologically too much to bear, especially if you don’t have anyone to help you make sense of your experience, the sense of helplessness can be overwhelming.
Many adults who experienced trauma suffer from a co-occurring issue like anxiety, depression, or substance abuse. You may feel empty, lost, alone, isolated, and ashamed of your struggles or suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can cause long-term mental and physical health problems.
The good news is that there is relief. Trauma therapy can help you explore the origins of the trauma and heal the impact of those events so that you can move forward toward a more satisfying, connected relationship with yourself and others.
Trauma Therapy Can Help You Trust And Find Strength In Yourself
In a warm, supportive environment, you and I will build a safe and trusting relationship that will allow you to identify, explore, share, and integrate the events that impacted you in a traumatic way. We will work together to explore your emotional experience and claim those parts of you that needed to be denied or rejected in the face of traumatic events. You will find an inner strength you thought had been lost amidst the overwhelming feelings of helplessness that you endured when it actually helped sustain you through your trauma.
Through our relationship, you will learn to trust yourself and others in a more profound way and engage with yourself, those close to you, and your community in a more authentic, connected, and integrated way.
You may think that trauma therapy could help, but still have questions……
I know I need help, but I’m scared of what feelings and memories may surface
Many people are hesitant to seek help for trauma for fear of what they may discover. It can be very scary to allow yourself to be vulnerable as you open the door to memories and events that happened long ago. And it is not uncommon to fear the feelings that arise as you start to explore the impact of traumatic events on your life.
But the truth is that these experiences have already happened. You have already survived the traumatic experience. Our work together during trauma therapy is to help you integrate your feelings, experiences, and events so that you no longer fear their presence or existence. You will learn to see when your trauma has been triggered and develop ways to calm and soothe those powerful feelings.
I want to pursue treatment but am afraid of the cost
Unhealed trauma can lead to lasting emotional scars like depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and decreased satisfaction in relationships, work, and community. It also limits your capacity to live a life of self-acceptance, vulnerability, and connection with yourself and others. While it may seem costly to invest in trauma therapy, the cost of not pursuing treatment may be even greater. I invite you to consider therapy as an investment in your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. You may find that by simply reaching out and talking with me you feel more secure in the knowledge that trauma therapy will help you find your way to the authentic, vulnerable, satisfying life you hope for.
Can’t I do this on my own?
In order to heal from trauma, you must face and resolve the unbearable feelings and memories you’ve long avoided. Otherwise, they will return again and again as unexpected and unwelcome visitors. Working through trauma can be scary and painful. Whether we are talking about healing a traumatic event or childhood trauma, having a place that helps us learn to hold and manage intense emotions is essential. While some individuals find that they can recover on their own, most people discover that they need a safe, trusting relationship in order to heal. And research indicates that because childhood trauma happens in the context of relationships it must necessarily be healed in a relationship and cannot be done on your own.
I invite you to explore with me how trauma therapy will help you heal and integrate your experiences so that you can find your way to a more authentic, peaceful, and satisfying life.
If you feel you are ready to explore options for trauma therapy, I invite you to call me at 916-443-5354 for a free 15 minute consultation to discuss your specific needs and address any questions you may have about trauma therapy or my practice.