Trauma & PTSD

Life after trauma may feel as though you no longer belong, and disconnected from others or even yourself. Sometimes you feel emotionally numb, while other times overcome with unexpected sadness, anger, and fear.

Therapy helps to understand these feelings and the changes that have developed. My goal is to teach skills to regulate your nervous system and reintegrate back to the life you want.

The trauma responses are not signs of weakness; they are natural reactions to the intense event that occurred. Each person’s journey is unique with each timeline independent of another’s. My approach strives for balance of feeling the emotions of life and being grounded during the emotional storms.

Every step forward creates a clearer view.

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  • Common traumas I treat include childhood trauma and neglect, sexual trauma, combat/military related trauma, violent incidents, and relational trauma.

  • The first few sessions focus on creating a safe place, thorough assessment of your symptoms, and gaining an understanding of your goals.

    We will work together to create a therapy treatment plan to determine what approach is most appropriate. This may include a trauma-informed approach of working on anxiety, depression, relationships, and other areas of life impacted by trauma. Alternatively, a trauma-focused approach helps to process trauma memories and involves talking and/or writing about the trauma.

  • Based on the information gathered in the initial sessions, we will discuss what evidence based treatment is best fitting.

    The American Psychological Association identified two first line psychotherapy approaches for PTSD: Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure. Both will involve talking about the trauma details to process it in depth. Cognitive Processing Therapy seeks to understand and soften beliefs about yourself and the world that have changed because of the trauma. Prolonged Exposure involves gradually confronting the trauma memory itself as well as avoided situations to help process the trauma and fear.

  • If you're not ready to discuss trauma, that is completely respected. During this time, the focus will be on building coping skills needed to manage these tough emotions.

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