Has Unresolved Trauma Cut You Off From The Rest Of The World?

As a trauma survivor, do you wonder if life will ever be the same again?

Do you struggle to feel safe, connect with others, or maintain focus?

Are you looking for a solution to your emotional and physical distress?

Although you want to leave the past behind, your body and mind won’t allow you to. Whenever you are reminded of your trauma—whether with people or places that trigger a memory—you may feel like you’re back in that moment, reliving the same fear and pain. Rather than risk a panic attack, perhaps you choose to stay home to avoid situations that could cause more flashbacks. However, taking this precaution isolates you from the outside world.

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It May Be Difficult Sticking To Your Daily Routine

On days when you haven’t slept due to nightmares or a sense of dread permeating your thoughts, you might struggle to get out of bed. When you feel overwhelmed or lack focus, it can make keeping up with day-to-day responsibilities more challenging.

Perhaps you don’t have the words to explain to loved ones what’s going on. Even though you want to maintain your close relationships, you can’t seem to get on the same page with anyone. If you’ve become closed off from your emotions as a means of self-protection, your relationships may lack the warm connectivity they once had. As a result, you’ve grown increasingly lonely.

If only you could become more of the person you used to be and stop reliving your trauma, life would feel normal again. Fortunately, trauma therapy is a light at the end of the tunnel. With counseling, you can heal from your trauma and restore a sense of safety in your life.

Open journal with blank pages and a pen resting on top, symbolizing the opportunity for self-expression and reflection

PTSD Can Be Hard To Recover From Without Treatment

Although most people who experience a traumatic event won’t develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), “About 8 of every 100 women and 4 of every 100 men will have PTSD at some point in their life.” [1],[2] PTSD can result from experiencing events such as active combat, sexual abuse, car accidents, or traumatic childhood experiences.

Trauma Impacts Our Nervous System

When we suffer the effects of trauma, what we carry with us not only affects our minds but also our bodies. Our nervous system can be activated by stressful events that push it out of balance. As a result, we may experience physiological symptoms, such as panic attacks, flashbacks, or hypervigilance.

Unfortunately, we might compare our experience to others, concluding that if someone endured a trauma that was seemingly worse than ours, then we don’t have a valid excuse for feeling as badly as we do. But since everyone responds to events differently, making apples-to-apples comparisons doesn’t apply. For example, one person might move on quickly after a serious car accident, whereas a victim of the same accident may relive the event over again anytime they get behind the wheel.

When we remain stuck in the fight-flight-or-freeze response, it’s hard to recover from trauma or PTSD without some form of professional treatment. Without a therapist who can be objective and help us gain perspective, we might get stuck in a loop of reliving distressful memories and never leave our trauma behind.

Fortunately, trauma counseling can help regulate your nervous system so you can move beyond the fear you continue to experience. If you have suffered sexual assault, childhood abuse, or other traumatic events, therapy can help you heal.

Therapy Can Be Effective Without Having To Relive Your Trauma

You may worry that once you go into therapy, you will never get out of it. However, treatment for trauma doesn’t have to be prolonged for it to be effective. With techniques that follow a set protocol, you can heal from trauma without having to spend months—or years—in therapy.

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What To Expect In Sessions

Before embarking on treatment, it’s important to create a safe space that allows healing to happen. I will endeavor to foster a supportive environment where you will feel comfortable revisiting your past trauma by writing about it. Only when you are emotionally prepared will you move into a deeper exploration of the thoughts and feelings surrounding what happened to you.

Two women engaged in a trauma therapy session, depicting a supportive and healing environment

My goal for trauma therapy is to equip you with the tools you will need to regulate your nervous system and create a sense of safety within your body. For example, I will teach you soothing self-touch for the times when you are feeling activated by your trauma and need calming techniques. Once your toolbox is full, you can rest assured that you will leave therapy with the skills you need to restore balance and inner peace.

Written Exposure Therapy (WET) Can Help You Process Trauma And PTSD

Written Exposure Therapy (WET) allows you to confront your trauma in a gentle way that won't re-traumatize you. WET is comprised of a five-session protocol with includes following specific instructions to write for 30-40 minutes about your trauma within each session. As you explore the emotions, beliefs, and thoughts you have surrounding the traumatic event, I will provide you with feedback on how well you followed the prompts. However, throughout this process, we never have to openly discuss the specifics of your trauma.

WET is an evidenced-based treatment that, after three sessions, has been shown to reduce levels of distress.[1] By following the WET protocol, you will better understand how the effects of trauma have been perpetuated when you avoid thinking about them.

After receiving psychoeducation about how trauma affects the body, we will also incorporate HeartMath techniques to help calm your nervous system. This body-focused work is based on Polyvagal theory and can help alleviate the pain that has been trapped inside.

By committing to trauma counseling, you can positively shift your thinking, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors. By getting in alignment with your values and goals, you can become the person you want to be.

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But Maybe You’re Not Sure If Trauma Therapy Is Right For You…

Will treatment that incorporates Written Exposure Therapy (WET) help me heal from my trauma or PTSD?

Although there is never a 100 percent guarantee that one particular treatment will resolve trauma, studies have shown that WET works for a majority of people without re-traumatizing them.[1] However, if WET doesn’t resonate with you, I offer other modalities, such as HeartMath, which is also an effective therapy for resolving trauma.

What if, after trauma counseling, I feel worse than I do now?

When you begin treatment to address your trauma, it’s not uncommon to experience a momentary period where you may feel worse before things start to get better. But don’t be disheartened—as time passes, you will notice a marked shift where you will begin to feel lighter and more at ease. Fortunately, counseling for trauma and PTSD offers a light at the end of the tunnel—and the tunnel is shorter than you probably think.

How will you ensure that I feel safe throughout trauma therapy sessions?

Trauma counseling can involve working through sensitive and distressing experiences. As a trauma-informed therapist, your safety is my top priority. I will provide you with a warm and empathetic space where you get to set the pace and decide what you want to focus on. Furthermore, one of the reasons I was drawn to WET is that it doesn’t require that you tell me directly about your trauma.

Make Your Mental Health A Priority

Recovering from trauma starts with a first step. If you would like to find out more about trauma therapy with me, you may visit my contact page to schedule a free 15-minute call where we can determine if you are a good fit for telehealth. I now offer virtual therapy sessions to those who reside in Florida, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho.