Trauma Therapy for Adults
Trauma is not about what happened to us, it’s about what happens within us.
The impact of experiencing something traumatic is not about the “situation” that occurred, instead, it’s about the undesirable impact it has on us. This is where therapy comes into play. You may have commonly heard the phrase “time heals all wounds” at least once in your life; and if you’ve experienced trauma, you might be wondering, “when is time going to heal my wounds?” The problem what that phrase is that with trauma, time isn’t enough to heal…you need psychological first aid.
As a trauma certified therapist, I use a neurobiology approach that focuses on healing your nervous system…because, when we experience trauma, there is a deep internal impact that disrupts the functioning of our nervous system.
Whereas you may once had a fairly regulated nervous system, post trauma your nervous system becomes dysregulated. The rules of normal functioning can get lost in translation and your nervous system becomes stuck in a cycle of defense…because it’s trying to still protect you. That’s why we start to experience struggles in our day-to-day life.
A dysregulated nervous system can become over protective and hyper-sensitive to threats — ultimately causing you to feel anxious and on edge at times (or all the time), and if not that, then hopelessness, disconnection, and lack of motivation. This is because your nervous system is constantly finding itself in a state of a threat response: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.
In order to heal from trauma, there is deeper work required that time cannot give. This work is broken down in three steps:
“Stabilization” — learning to find safety in coping skills, self-care, and people…the start to regulating your nervous system.
“Processing” — understanding how the trauma has impacted you (such as beliefs, fears, perceptions, etc. is may have created), feeling your emotions, and re-creating your story…so that trauma becomes just something that has happened to you, not something that defines you.
“Re-Integration” — taking what you’ve learned and your newfound awareness and integrating that into your life in order for you to find security in yourself and others…this is where you begin living the life you desire.