Have you been finding it difficult to get on with your life after what happened to you or worry about your child moving on?
Many people have survived traumatic life events or Adverse Childhood Events (ACE’s). These can range from childhood sexual or physical abuse, neglect, problematic family situations. But these can also occur later in life in many forms of being in an abusive relationship, surviving a sexual assault, living as a refugee, being involved in a violent act or witnessing one, getting involved in a terrible car accident, or fearing for the loss of your life or liberties. Our trauma-informed therapists are trained to help clients cope with these emotional and physical symptoms of trauma and all of its forms. We can help.
Are you feeling triggered by certain people or situations and can’t seem to control your emotional or physical reactions?
When a disturbing event happens to us, or you witness disturbing events, they can get filed away in our brain that causes it to keep resurfacing. Especially when we encounter people, places, or things that trigger those old memories. You might ask yourself “Why am I reacting this way?” or you believe one thing but feel something totally different. These are examples of trauma responses of memories that need help finding resolution and healing and are typical and adaptive responses to coping with trauma, difficult, or disturbing events.
Why is this happening?
Consider how your body recovers from physical injury. If you fall down and scrape your knee it should heal just fine, scabbing over, eventually completely closing the wound. A week or so later you might notice it is gone completely with no pain. Most memories are handled the same way, our resiliency, resources, and strengths allow us to file it away and it never bothers us again. But if a physical wound gets infected or a repeated injury to the same location irritates the wound, it will fester and cause pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. So, if an emotional wound keeps getting irritated or triggered, it can cause intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing is resumed. Using the EMDR protocol and procedures, or Trauma-informed therapies, therapists can help clients activate their natural healing processes.
Things can get better
Talk to a compassionate and understanding therapist who knows how to treat trauma. Resiliency is the key to overcoming traumatic events and by nature, we are resilient. Our trained therapists will draw on your existing strengths and provide you tools so you can feel confident moving forward in life. Manage emotions, triggers, and behaviors. Feel in control of your body and space again. If you want to move on or help your child move on so that you can live a healthy and fulfilling life unchained from the past, give us a call.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR)
EMDR is a therapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms of emotional distress that are a result of disturbing life events or trauma. Repeated and validated studies show that EMDR can provide the same results that ongoing psychotherapy can but it a fraction of the time. EMDR provides an invitation for your brain to access these memories and reprocess them allowing you to put them away resolved and less emotionally charged.
This intervention is a multiphase treatment and typically go for 90 minute sessions where therapist will ask the client to hold different aspects of their memories in mind while using their eyes, (tones or pulses if eyes have a hard time tracking) to track the therapists hands or light bar as it moves back and forth over their field of vision. The response that the clients experience can be connected with the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, internal associations arise and the client begins to process the memory and disturbing feelings. These painful events will begin to transform on an emotional level.
Many clients feel amazed at what comes up during these sessions and feel very empowered by the experiences that had once debased them. The effects of treatment last beyond the session and you might feel lighter, more relaxed, and free after you have a session. You will be provided with coping skills to address any issues that arise in between the sessions and can attend at a pace that is comfortable for you.
Our trauma certified therapists can help you or your child cope with traumatic experiences. Some of the experiences we help our clients work through include:
- Childhood Sexual Abuse
- Childhood Physical Abuse
- Adult Sexual Abuse
- Domestic Violence
- Hostile family relationships and turmoil
- Violence
- Refugees
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD
- First Responders and Secondary Trauma
- War/Deployment/Military
- Health
- Accidents
- Community Violence
- Survivors of Suicide
- Political Trauma
Reasons why others have chosen counseling:
- Feeling Depressed or Anxious
- Difficulty managing substance use
- Individuals wanting to improve significant relationships
- Couples wanting to reconnect and reduce conflict
- Coping with grief or loss
- Coping with the lingering effects that trauma has had on your life
- Managing life after a divorce
- Finding Balance again after life changes
- Guidance with Parenting
- Coping with Postpartum depression and bonding with a new baby
- Resolving family conflict
