Trauma Therapy

Just like reactions to trauma are individual so is treatment. Together we will assess what areas of your life are affected by trauma and create an individualized course of treatment. This might include processing specific memories, creating a narrative, using cognitive behavioral techniques to examine shifts in beliefs, somatic skills to discharge traumatic stress from the body, emotion regulation and interpersonal skills, connecting with exiled parts of self, bringing compassion to shame.

I'm a Certified Trauma Professional (CTP) who has worked in and around traumatic situations for over a decade. I also have personal experience with trauma and recovery. I've studied to create a specialty in working with people who are struggling with secondary traumatic exposure, but the truth is, those of us most at risk for vicarious trauma have our own trauma histories. I work to help untangle those complexities for healing and resilience.

I am an eclectic therapist and draw on multiple approaches to provide therapy tailored to each patient's needs and priorities, with a focus on trauma healing, existential therapy, psychodynamic/attachment therapy, and liberation psychology. I am a Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist and use body self connection, nervous system 'rewiring', and relationship attachment approaches to help people build internal security and distress tolerance.

I have training in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and EMDR.

I have extensive training and experience working with clients struggling with traumatic stress. The key to overcoming trauma is to activate the traumatic stress within a healing and restorative relationship. With client suffering from traumatic stress reactions, we process the ways in which trauma gets trapped in the body and ways to release its grip. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a very effective approach we may apply.

I am a certified Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapist. I work from within a trauma lens and perspective. I help clients to work through and process traumatic events. I understand that trauma is complex and multi-faceted. I understand that trauma is often not an isolated event but something that is experienced as generational, historical, and complex.

Trauma-informed approach that focuses on cultivating a healthy nervous system, regulating the emotions, addressing repressed or past traumas, and integration of somatic practices and coping strategies such as breathwork, relaxation techniques, and guided visualizations. An environment of safety and healing is created that reduces the risk of re-traumatization in the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the lived experience.

Unlike some trauma therapies (e.g. EMDR, PE), the modalities I offer don’t require you to repeatedly describe your trauma out loud, which can be too overwhelming for some. In WET (~5 weeks), you write about your trauma instead, and I’m basically your editor. In CPT (~12 weeks), we talk *around* your trauma, focusing on how it’s impacted your beliefs about the world. In ACT, you go at your own pace, dipping your toes into your memories while learning how to be less yanked around by your symptoms.

My experience with trauma therapy includes trainings in Somatic Experiencing and extensive work with survivors of Intimate Partner Violence. I work towards establishing emotional and physical safety for people before diving into their experiences and using experiential and somatic interventions to help process the emotions.

I have been specializing in trauma for over 5 years and have completed training in multiple approaches and subjects related to trauma. I use an attachment theory framework that unifies my understanding of trauma and how to heal from it.

I will look at ways to understand how negative life experiences have shaped your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In trauma therapy, I look at loss of safety, inability to manage emotions, overwhelming losses, and experiences that have made you feel disconnected. Therapy will provide a validating, non-judgmental, authentic, and supportive place for you to navigate challenges you are experiencing.

As a trauma-informed therapist, I will assume that you have had experiences that may have deeply affected you, and they recognize and respond to you in a way that emphasizes safety, collaboration, and empowerment.

I use a mind-body approach to working with trauma that is guided by how you've been affected by it. As a trauma informed yoga and 200 hour registered yoga teacher, I have studied, practiced, and facilitated yoga and trauma sensitive movement classes. I teach my clients to understand their trauma responses by exploring the purpose it serves, their reactions, what activates it, and how to cope with it.

I'm trained in Cognitive Processing Therapy, a CBT based treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for various traumatic experiences. This is a structured therapy with homework that lasts about 3 months.

Trauma is stored in the body. Cognitive interventions alone are not enough to heal traumatic experiences. Telling our stories is only beneficial if they were secrets at the time they happened or the stories that were told didn't reflect our truth. Retelling our stories can further reinforce the trauma in the body unless it is guided by someone who can help support your truth and support your body in experiencing it differently this time.

Trauma Resource Institute: Trauma Resiliency Model - Level 1 Certificate

I have specialized training in treating trauma via Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). CPT focuses on education, processing trauma, changing thoughts, and identifying trauma themes. If a manualized treatment is not a great fit, I also have a wide variety of resources and activities to help process trauma effectively.