Trauma Therapy
Have Harmful Experiences Kept You From Living Your Best Life?
Does trauma make you feel too anxious or stressed to move forward in life? Maybe there is a past experience that affects your ability to enjoy life and focus on the present. You may feel a lack of creativity and motivation, as if you are numb inside and nothing piques your interest. Or perhaps you suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, causing you to miss out on opportunities for growth. As much as you feel weighed down by the past, however, you probably find yourself longing for growth and wanting to take steps toward living your best life.
Dealing with trauma can be frustrating, lonely, and debilitating, but it does not have to be permanent. Oftentimes, harmful experiences cause frustrating patterns that you may need help breaking out of. For instance, if you experienced sexual abuse, you may withdraw from intimate relationships because you’re afraid of getting hurt again. Of if your trauma stems from systemic issues such as racism, classism, sexism, and heteronormativity, perhaps you’re scared to seek help because the institutions that were supposed to provide for you have let you down.
Having anxiety or feeling emotionally stuck are healthy, normal reactions to difficult life experiences. Your body was designed to respond in these ways when you are in danger. The fact that you are aware of this process and reading this page lets me know that you have been resilient and longing to feel happier and more satisfied. My goal is to help you tap into new sources of embodied wisdom and use them to find courage and happiness.
Trauma Is A Universal Struggle That Often Gets Passed Down From Generation To Generation
We have all experienced trauma, whether we know it or not. Dealing with grief and loss, child neglect, mass shootings, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and systemic oppression are all forms of suffering that can cause trauma or PTSD. In the wake of a traumatic experience, most of us intuitively develop skills and strategies to cope and survive in a complex and threatening world. Oftentimes, those of us who’ve had the most challenging life experiences have the most creative ways of remaining resilient.
It’s hard to remain resilient in the face of trauma, however, because we can’t control all the experiences that happen to us. What’s more, unresolved trauma is often passed down from generation from generation. Many of us carry trauma that is not even our own. Even if we did not experience an event firsthand, the memory can live in our bodies because we adopt the nervous system states of the people who raised us. In this way, trauma is never just an individual issue—it is deeply embedded in a social, intergenerational context. At the same time, it is our responsibility to tend to our individual trauma and prevent it from being passed down to others in the future.
Even if you’ve already tended to your wounds on your own, you may want extra support and guidance to help you move beyond the barriers that trauma has created. After all, some of your experiences may be too deeply embedded to access on your own. Thankfully, by changing your relationship to your body in a gentle, holistic manner, you can unlock the deep parts of your past that need healing. In therapy, my goal is to help you resolve the pain of trauma in a way that goes at your own pace, following the innate wisdom of your body and mind so that you know when you are ready to heal.
Trauma Therapy Can Help You Use Your Own Inner Wisdom To Find The Path Forward
I understand that trauma isn’t easy to talk about, but you don’t have to open up right away. I want the recovery process to move at whatever pace is suitable for you. And while you are getting comfortable, I’ll equip you with safety and resources to help you manage your stressors and prevent you from feeling re-traumatized once you are ready to share your story. In my trauma and PTSD counseling sessions, I provide a gentle space where you are encouraged to explore all your feelings and tend to all your emotional wounds without pressure. My approach is kind, curious, and non-judgmental.
In our sessions together, we will explore how your past trauma has impacted your beliefs, relationships, sleep habits, and every aspect of your life. Additionally, I want to know what strategies you have developed to cope and survive with trauma. Together, we can explore how these strategies have served you in the past and whether or not they are useful to you now. Oftentimes, what may reduce stress in the short term—such as avoiding intimate relationships for fear of getting hurt—may prevent you from finding satisfaction in life. My goal is to help you think more deeply about your own coping skills and stress responses.
I take a somatically-informed approach to trauma therapy, which means I am as concerned with the body as I am with the mind. I want to give you real-life tools for tolerating distress on both a physical and emotional level. After all, trauma often causes stress responses that manifest physically, such as a racing heart, headaches, sweaty palms, or tension in the shoulders and jaw. With that in mind, I’ll teach you calming strategies—such as deep breathing, meditation, and much more—to alleviate PTSD symptoms and help you stay grounded when painful memories affect you. I am a mindfulness and meditation instructor, so I am well-versed in such practices. I can attest to their restorative power and teach you to develop these skills in your day-to-day life.
No matter how stressful living with trauma is today, I believe you have the strength and resilience within you to weather your storms and find peace in the midst of them. I am heavily influenced by contemplative psychotherapy, which teaches that each person has the embodied wisdom to recover from their pain. My goal is to help you tap into that source of strength and inner wisdom and use it to expand your self-awareness and build resilience. Rather than merely alleviating your symptoms, I want to help you create a path forward in life. And I want to walk with you on it.
You may have some questions about trauma and PTSD therapy…
I’m afraid that addressing my trauma will make me feel worse.
I’m not going to dive into your traumatic history right away—I want to ease into it and provide you with safety and resources for when you feel stressed. Your body and its own inner wisdom are the guiding force of therapy, and they will let us know when to explore certain topics. If it’s not the right time to look deeply into past trauma, that’s okay. You set the pace of trauma counseling.
I don’t think talking about trauma can actually help.
You’re right; merely talking about trauma won’t help. But we’re not just going to sit there and talk about trauma—we’re going to bring real-life change into your world. When you pay attention to the energy that is in your body and how it makes you respond to traumatic memories, you can gain awareness of the unseen ways that trauma affects you. My hope is that the insights you learn here will translate into a legacy of recovery and transformation in your life. When you change the way your body functions, you can transform your relationships and the community around you, too.
Trauma has affected my life so much. I’d have to be in trauma therapy forever for it to work.
If you’re reading this page and you’re considering therapy, that shows you already have a commitment to recovery and have had a lot of growth and resilience already. And as long as that’s the case, I can assure you that you can find relief. Even so, it’s important to remember that recovery is not a one-and-done process. It’s a mindset and a way of life. You may come for one session or you may come for five years, but the time it takes to find relief is not important in the long run. What’s important is the moment-to-moment awareness of your needs and the choice to take care of yourself no matter where you are in the process. Trauma therapy is a time for building courage and resilience in ways that have lasting effects on your life.
Experience Peace In Both Your Mind And Body
No matter how severely trauma is holding you back in life, things can be different. By exploring the full range of your emotions and learning to regulate your stress responses, you can find peace in both your mind and body. To get started, you can email me or call 720-378-6555 for a free, 30-minute phone consultation.
Nic is currently accepting new clients and sessions are offered in-person or using a HIPPA compliant online video platform.
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Still have questions about whether trauma therapy is right for you? Send me a message using the contact form below.