In its simplest terms, trauma can be understood as a violation of expectations—defined as any experience that results in overwhelming your thoughts, emotions, or physical well-being. As such, many situations can result in trauma, even if they are not abjectly dangerous or life-threatening. Unfortunately, because our culture tends to characterize traumatic events solely as instances of violence and disaster, many common core traumas are often overlooked. 

Anytime our system is overwhelmed, a stress response is triggered and has the potential of getting “stuck” in the body, presenting in unfavorable or disruptive ways. Perhaps you struggle with surface-level symptoms associated with anxiety, stress, self-doubt, or worry, possibly overlooking a deeper wound hovering beneath the surface. Or maybe you carry some shame or guilt from a historical experience, causing you to doubt yourself or even connect with feelings of inadequacy or unworthiness. 

In many cases, we can recognize signs of trauma in our relationships. If you often distrust others or notice a lack of security in your attachments, it can be difficult to maintain strong, fulfilling connections. As a result, you might often experience feelings of loneliness, or frustration, anger, and/or doubt with those around you. 

Although it’s tempting to further isolate ourselves from our emotions and others when overwhelmed, our deepest healing actually takes place inside of our relationships. A trained, experienced therapist can help you navigate and heal from traumatic experiences and reduce the overall discomfort you’re feeling in a therapeutic relationship that transcends to your relationship with yourself and others alike.

What Is Trauma?

From a mental health perspective, there are two types of traumas: “Big T” Trauma and “little t” trauma. Big T traumas involve situations that would be considered life-threatening, violent, or catastrophic. Examples might include an automobile accident, violent crime, assault, or natural disaster. However, little t traumas are much more common and widespread. These scenarios typically involve non-life-threatening injuries that can result in ongoing, accumulative distress that may develop into complex trauma, which is the repeated exposure to traumatic events. Examples of little t trauma include:

• The unexpected death of a person or pet

• Grief and loss (including loss of a job or relationship)

• Attachment wounding (i.e., an emotional injury from childhood, often involving a parent/caretaker)

• Medical trauma or sudden, severe illness

• Chronic pain

• Bullying 

• Rejection by a friend/peer group

• Infidelity

• Financial insecurities

From this, we can see that traumas exist everywhere in life. In fact, it’s estimated that 70 percent of adults will survive a traumatic event, with 30.5 percent reporting four or more traumatic events in a lifetime. 

Feelings Of Unworthiness May Keep Us From Seeking Help

No matter the traumatic experience, acute distress and emotional overwhelm can create significant challenges for survivors. Yet, even when struggling, it’s common for us to develop the idea that we can only heal on our own or that our trauma isn’t severe enough to warrant counseling. Instead of facing and processing the impact that the trauma has had on our lives, we can become perpetually stuck in maladaptive coping skills and pain. 

Healing takes time, and trauma is not something we can think our way out of—if it were, we’d all have gold medals in emotional repair. That’s why therapy can be helpful: to give you a chance to reclaim safety, learn new coping skills, and support the internal pains created by trauma. 

Trauma Therapy At Dawn of Day

Trauma overwhelmed your system in the past, but counseling is an opportunity to learn new ways of processing and expressing your emotions. Through our work together in therapy, you will regain personal power as you reduce fear, shame, and self-doubt. My combination of brain body-based therapy, parts work, mindfulness based stress reduction, visualization and relaxation strategies targets trauma on a nervous system level so that you can experience feelings of internal safety and relief. 

My Approach

Before we dive into therapy, I will work to understand what has and has not been helpful for you in the past when it comes to exploring your trauma. I aim to make you feel comfortable throughout this process, and my approach as a therapist centers on your goals and experience of how trauma shows up in your mind and body. 

Slowly and safely, we’ll get to the core of your wound(s), unveiling the harmful associations and self-beliefs you developed as a result. You’ll notice a new way of relating to yourself, chipping away at any anger, unworthiness, and inner turmoil you feel. While seemingly counterintuitive, these painful emotions exist to protect you. And using Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, you can gain a deeper understanding of what the hurt and fearful parts are trying to tell you so that you can strategize new ways of responding and relating to them. 

We are also likely to use Brainspotting, which is a revolutionary approach to trauma treatment. Like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Brainspotting uses eye positioning to heal trauma in the subcortical region of the brain. 

These therapies may be done alongside DBT, mindfulness, visualizations, and other techniques that promote nervous system relaxation so you can have a robust toolkit for distress tolerance when overwhelmed. And along the way, I am here to talk through your experience with you so that you continually feel supported in mind and body throughout our time together. 

Trauma may have edged its way into the driver’s seat of your life, but it doesn’t have to stay there forever. In counseling, you can process and reframe the distress you’ve experienced. With my support in therapy, you can create an entirely new relationship with your trauma. 

Still Have Concerns About Counseling?