Are You Struggling With The After Effects Of Trauma?
Have you experienced an event or series of events in which you felt threatened, frightened and powerless to help yourself or someone else out of a dangerous situation? Do you often feel broken, dirty or not in control of your life? Maybe you struggle in intimate relationships, feeling unable to trust your partner or even yourself. Or perhaps impulsive behaviors or angry outbursts are creating more problems in your relationships and further deteriorating your self-esteem. It might be that you have significant body image issues and feel shame and guilt over what happened to you. You might even believe that the trauma was your fault or that you should have stopped or prevented it somehow. Do you feel isolated and alone, wondering why you feel so bad and if it’s even possible to feel better? Do you wish you could move past your trauma, foster positive and fulfilling relationships and feel healthy and whole?
Living with the aftereffects of trauma can be an isolating, confusing and even frightening experience. You might be struggling to navigate symptoms of anxiety or depression, ongoing triggers, intrusive thoughts or seemingly random floods of painful memories. Or, you might find it difficult to remember periods from your past and often feel numb, detached or disconnected from the rest of the world. Activities that you used to enjoy may no longer be appealing and/or you may have withdrawn from doing certain things, going to specific places or spending time with certain people out of fear that you’ll get triggered, panic and feel even more out of control. While you may feel ready to address the trauma and move on, you might still feel powerless and unsure of where to turn for help.
Trauma Is Extremely Common In Our Culture
Studies show that 70 percent of people will experience at least one trauma in their lifetime. While everyone is impacted by and experiences trauma differently based on their own history, support system, and personal resiliency, trauma generally occurs when someone feels powerless to help him or herself out of a frightening, dangerous situation. And, while some traumas are situational and occur once—as in an assault, accident or invasive medical procedure—others are developmental and occur through on-going abuse or neglect in childhood. People who experience developmental trauma as children are also more likely to recreate chaos in their lives as adults, which can lead to complex trauma and a pattern of unhealthy relationships and both internal and external struggles that can be hard to break. Trauma can also be passed down through generations of families, especially if there is a family history of abuse, oppression, and hardship. Trauma impacts self-worth, self-esteem and the ability to trust oneself and others, and creates a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. Anxiety, depression, addictions, eating disorders and interpersonal relationship problems often stem from unresolved trauma and can cause even more distress.
Many people struggle with trauma for years—or even decades—before hitting a point when they truly want to heal and create something different in their lives. If you’ve come to this point, the good news is that there is help and hope for healing. An experienced, compassionate trauma therapist can help you develop a new, more empowered relationship with the trauma you experienced, create meaningful change in your life and foster a healthy relationship with yourself and others.
Trauma Therapy Can Provide You With Support, Insight And A New Path Forward
In the safe and warm space of my office, I can help you transform your relationship with pain and suffering. Using strategies proven to help increase awareness and live in alignment with personal values, we can work collaboratively to figure out what’s working in your life, identify where change can occur and set meaningful, achievable goals. I see the therapeutic relationship as an alliance based on commitment and trust. I will meet you in your commitment to growth and healing and provide guidance and support as you embark upon a journey toward a fulfilling, rich life.
While I will tailor create a trauma treatment strategy that best supports and addresses your particular trauma and unique personality, needs, history and therapy goals, I often draw from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT can help you develop psychological flexibility and provide you with effective tools that you can use for the rest of your life. It can help you identify who and what is important to you, the barriers that are keeping you stuck and how you can move toward goals and live in alignment with your core values. In trauma counseling sessions, I can also help you create a new relationship with your thoughts, feelings, memories and physical sensations. You can begin to challenge the idea that you are bad or broken by noticing these thoughts and creating space to make thoughtful decisions about how you want to be in the world. Using a mindfulness practice, you can learn how to drop into the present, n
otice your thoughts without judgment, recognize that you are safe at the moment and start putting more distance between yourself today and the memories of your trauma.
While trauma counseling can be challenging at times, it can also be highly rewarding. And, I bring a light-hearted energy and enthusiasm to the work we do, which can help to create levity and even laughter. With the help and support of a trauma counselor and a willingness to engage in the therapy process, you can move beyond trauma and create a meaningful, fulfilling life that you truly love living. You can make peace with what happened and realize that you are not damaged, but, rather, incredibly strong. Once you engage in radical acceptance, anything becomes possible, including truly healing from trauma and feeling healthy and whole.
You still may have questions or concerns about trauma therapy…
I’ve heard that trauma counseling can be expensive and take a long time.
If time and money are a factor for you, I invite you to consider how much your life, sense of self-worth and happiness has been impacted by trauma, as well as how much you want to continue to suffer. Trauma can impact every part of your life and, left unresolved, can lead to more and bigger problems. In trauma therapy sessions, you can truly work through your trauma, which can lead to increased productivity, more connected relationships and healthier self-esteem. And, you don’t have to be in therapy forever. You can work through the issues, increase resiliency and learn valuable skills that you can draw from for the rest of your life.
I don’t want to talk about what happened. I just want the pain to go away.
You don’t have to talk about the trauma until you feel ready to, if at all. Rather, we can talk around the trauma and explore how it is manifesting in your life. You can learn proven strategies that can help you better manage your life and provide you with a sense of relief.
I tried therapy in the past and it didn’t work. How will trauma therapy with you be any different?
The work I do involves much more than talk therapy. It’s active, engaged and collaborative. Beyond the cognitive work, using ACT, I can help you connect to the language of your body. When you learn how to tune into your body and understand what it is telling you, you can shift how you perceive thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Essentially, you can create a new relationship with your trauma story and experience long-term, sustainable relief.
You Can Live An Empowered, Peaceful Life
You don’t have to navigate the stress and pain of trauma on your own. I invite you to contact me to schedule a free 205-minute call. I’m happy to discuss your particular needs and answer any questions you have about trauma therapy, my approach, and my practice.
Due to a busy practice and an ever-increasing passion working as a coach, I am not taking on therapy clients in my Lakewood, CO office at this time, and only taking on a limited number of therapy clients for meetings via secure telehealth and online counseling platforms. I will continue to take on new clients for coaching. For more information, visit the business and career coaching, empowerment coaching, relationship coaching, habit coaching, and getting unstuck coaching information on my site, and becobitme the change you wish to see in your life
