What is trauma?

• Trauma is an event or period of time which was highly distressing and during which we often didn’t feel safe.

• Often, traumatic events live on with us long after they’ve happened, stored in our nervous systems.

• This can lead to many distressing symptoms from anxiety and depression to PTSD and attachment issues.

• Often, we may have a predisposition to certain symptoms, but trauma is the switch that activates these symptoms.

How is trauma treated in therapy?

• Because trauma is the activation switch, often we need to treat both the symptoms and the root. We may take a hybrid approach of increasing coping skills and distress tolerance, followed by processing the trauma at the core.

• Trauma processing approaches include:

  • Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS)

  • Brainspotting

  • Creative therapies like art, nature, and animal assisted

• Trauma work can be overwhelming, so we take a very gentle approach, building tools to help you ground first and then processing the trauma in pieces as you are ready.

Interested in learning more? Schedule a 15 minute complimentary phone consultation!