specialty care
TRAUMA & PTSD THERAPY
Some days, you may feel like you’re getting by just fine. Other days, you may find yourself stuck in painful memories, uncomfortable sensations, or thoughts that won’t let you be present in your days. You can be free from the grip of those moments. You deserve to feel safe again.
Trauma is not a one size fits all and can vary from person to person.
Some people may feel anxious and be reactive. Others may feel numb or have trouble remembering important details of what happened. Some people may feel it in their body, while others notice a change in their thoughts, emotions, or behaviors.
So, what does trauma actually look like? Here are some ways trauma can show up in your day-to-day life:
Many people experience a combination of these symptoms after a traumatic event. If these symptoms are impacting your quality of life or have been present for more than a month, it may be worth reaching out for support. You don’t have to wait until things feel unbearable to ask for help.
Many people ask if their experience was “serious enough” to qualify as trauma. In short, not everyone is affected by traumatic events in the same way. Ten people could experience the same event and leave with completely different perspectives. Trauma is about the impact of an experience, not whether an experience was bad enough. Below are common events that can lead to PTSD:
Physical assault or abuse (ex. Physical attack, robbery or mugging, childhood physical abuse)
Emotional abuse (ex. Experiencing aggressive verbal outbursts, threats, humiliation and belittling, extreme control, gaslighting, blaming and shaming)
Neglect (ex. Medical, physical, or emotional neglect)
Domestic violence (ex. Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, a partner controlling your finances, a partner demanding to know your location or access to your devices)
Vicarious trauma, or learning a traumatic event happened to a close family member or friend
Community or collective trauma (ex. Natural disasters, acts of mass violence or terrorism, war, generational trauma)
People in certain professions who experience repeated or extreme exposure to traumatic events (ex. People who work as first responders, police officers, fire fighters, nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals)
Medical trauma (ex. waking up during a surgery, birth trauma, invasive or painful medical procedures, experiencing medical errors.)
Sexual violence (ex. Sexual assault, inappropriate touching, childhood sexual abuse, sex trafficking, noncontact sexual abuse)
Grief and loss (ex. Losing a loved one in an accident, to violence or suicide, or to an overdose)
Accidents, serious injuries, or threats of harm (ex. Car accidents, kidnapping)
Witnessing a traumatic event happen to another person
Physical assault or abuse (ex. Physical attack, robbery or mugging, childhood physical abuse)
Emotional abuse (ex. Experiencing aggressive verbal outbursts, threats, humiliation and belittling, extreme control, gaslighting, blaming and shaming)
Neglect (ex. Medical, physical, or emotional neglect)
Domestic violence (ex. Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, a partner controlling your finances, a partner demanding to know your location or access to your devices)
Vicarious trauma, or learning a traumatic event happened to a close family member or friend
Community or collective trauma (ex. Natural disasters, acts of mass violence or terrorism, war, generational trauma)
People in certain professions who experience repeated or extreme exposure to traumatic events (ex. People who work as first responders, police officers, fire fighters, nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals)
Medical trauma (ex. waking up during a surgery, birth trauma, invasive or painful medical procedures, experiencing medical errors.)
Sexual violence (ex. Sexual assault, inappropriate touching, childhood sexual abuse, sex trafficking, noncontact sexual abuse)
Grief and loss (ex. Losing a loved one in an accident, to violence or suicide, or to an overdose)
Accidents, serious injuries, or threats of harm (ex. Car accidents, kidnapping)
Witnessing a traumatic event happen to another person
Medical trauma (ex. waking up during a surgery, birth trauma, invasive or painful medical procedures, experiencing medical errors.)
Sexual violence (ex. Sexual assault, inappropriate touching, childhood sexual abuse, sex trafficking, noncontact sexual abuse)
Grief and loss (ex. Losing a loved one in an accident, to violence or suicide, or to an overdose)
Accidents, serious injuries, or threats of harm (ex. Car accidents, kidnapping)
Witnessing a traumatic event happen to another person
How therapy for trauma and PTSD can help
Trauma is clever, and so are you. You can change what your days look like and feel safe and present again. Therapy for trauma and PTSD can help you:
Learn to identify your trauma responses. When you know what you’re experiencing, you can act to help yourself and feel relief sooner.
Understand your trauma responses and meet them with curiosity instead of judgment. When you stop blaming or shaming yourself, you can give compassion and forgiveness to yourself.
Build more empowering narratives about yourself and your experiences
Build a sense of safety in yourself, in your relationships, and in the world
Learn emotional coping skills so you can process your experience without feeling overwhelmed
Identify patterns that once helped you survive but may no longer be serving you
Learn to question and reframe beliefs that are keeping you stuck or unsafe
Help your mind sort the trauma event as something that happened, not something that is still happening.
Explore what’s possible when you no longer have to organize your life around danger
FAQ
If you’re questioning it, it most likely counts. Many people doubt, shame, or minimize their trauma because “it’s not that bad”. This is an example of the unhelpful beliefs from trauma that keep people from getting help. In short, if you experienced something overwhelming and it’s affecting your sense of safety, relationships, emotions, body, or ability to move forward, it’s worth exploring with a therapist. Trauma is about the impact of an overwhelming experience; not about how serious it was.
No, trauma can result from a wide range of experiences. Trauma can occur from serious accidents, threats to safety, death, witnessing an event happen to someone else, learning an event happened to someone close to you, or through subtle, repeated, or ongoing experiences. If something feels unresolved, it may be worth exploring.
No, and actually it can be harmful to process traumatic experiences before you’re ready. The first goal is to establish safety, understand your responses, developing coping skills, and reconnect with your sense of self. Therapy can help you think about and process trauma in a way that helps you maintain safety and presence in the moment. If processing specific trauma memories becomes part of your focus, we will approach that at a pace that feels safe and manageable.
Healing from trauma doesn’t mean pretending it didn’t happen. It doesn’t mean becoming the person you were before. Sometimes, healing means understanding why your body reacts the way it does, learning to feel safe in yourself again, and figuring out who you want to be now that survival isn’t running the show.
LET’S CONNECT
Whatever the obstacles you face, let’s face them together.
Click the schedule button or call 970-823-0040 to get started today!
