Healing The Inner Trauma
It feels like you are stuck in a loop of behaviors you don’t understand…
You used to be spontaneous, care free and enjoy life.
Then you wake up one day and your life is completely unrecognizable.
You find yourself wondering…
What is wrong with me?
Why do I act like this?
Can I ever get back to normal?
The right question might be, What happened to you?
Trauma comes in different forms.
There is acute trauma, from a big event such as a natural disaster, car accident, war, sudden loss of a loved one, home fire or a violent act.
There is also complex trauma which is the result of less obvious stressors occurring over time; a critic in your life, a loved one who withholds affection, or ongoing mental and physical abuse.
When our stress responses are repeatedly activated our nervous system becomes overloaded and we find ourselves in survival mode. Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn.
Fight - anger, aggression, controlling, explosive, hypervigilant, hostile, judgmental, rigid, self destructive
Flight - avoidant, addictions, binge watching, chronic worry, compulsions, escape, eating disorders, fantasizing, numbing, spacy or foggy, smart phone checking.
Freeze - frozen, guarded, heart racing, no voice, panic attacks, social anxiety, terrified, no voice.
Fawn - caretaking of others, conflict avoidance, flying under the radar, over apologizing, pacifying behaviors, people pleasing, responsible for others emotions, self sacrificing, shame, unable to say no.
It’s overwhelming to be stuck in a cycle of trauma responses. The distress is compounded because you don’t understand why you are behaving the way you do.
If you find yourself stuck in these cycles, then I’m glad you are here.
You need to know you are not broken. Your system is responding the way it was designed to respond; just along the way it got stuck.
I want you to know you are not alone in this, help is available.
Therapy can help you understand the root causes of your trauma responses.
Healing trauma is possible through therapy.
I work with both EMDR therapy and an IFS informed approach to help create true emotional change.
EMDR is unique in that rather than discussing and reliving the trauma, its focus is on the emotions associated with that trauma in conjunction with bilateral stimulation.
Through an IFS informed approach, we identify the parts of you that carry the trauma and work individually with each part to heal the system.
The after effects of therapy can be incredible.
Clients I have worked with in the past talk about:
Feelings of resilience and personal strength
Feeling like a burden has been lifted, like they shed a lot of weight they had been carrying for years.
New life events feeling less distressing
Feeling less reactive in relationships
Ultimately, it’s about getting out of the cycle of trauma, dropping that weight off your shoulders, and feeling free again.
I specialize in working with trauma, and would be honored to help you on your journey. Let's talk.