Trauma Therapy

 Are You Struggling With The After-Effects Of A Traumatic Experience?

Black and white photo of sad woman.

  • Have you experienced a violent attack, physical or sexual abuse, or a significant loss of a loved one from which you’re struggling to recover?

  • Do you feel sad and lonely?

  • Are you disconnected from those around you? Do you find yourself feeling anxious and unsafe?

  • Maybe reminders of the event trigger vivid memories that make you feel out of control and/or cause panic attacks

  • Or, maybe you’re avoiding places that remind you of what happened. Are you having trouble sleeping?

If you experience a trauma, you may not develop PTSD but you may experience significant struggles

If you have experienced an event that overwhelms your coping resources, you may find yourself struggling with trauma symptoms, such as feelings of fear, sadness and lashing out at your loved ones. Either way, people respond to trauma in a variety of ways as they struggle to assimilate it into their lives. Sometimes people become stuck – like they can’t move on. Others find that they try hard to avoid thinking about what happened, but still they feel anxious and unsafe.

Trauma Therapy Can Help You Find Relief

Healing and recovery from trauma is very possible.

Trauma therapy provides a safe, caring place to understand your trauma symptoms and make changes. Our therapists can help you learn new skills and new ways of thinking about your trauma, and integrate what has happened in a way that reestablishes a sense of control in your life.

We use evidence-based methods for treating PTSD and trauma symptoms;  Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE), the two therapies  that have been found by decades of research to be the most effective for treating PTSD and trauma symptoms.

  • One of the approaches we utilize is cognitive processing therapy, or CPT. Cognitive processing therapy was originally developed to treat survivors of sexual assault and has been also used extensively with veterans from Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan who have struggled with PTSD. CPT is effective at addressing situations where military personnel have been victimized or have had to commit acts violence during the course of war. When these acts result in distress for the military personnel, CPT helps to resolve stuck points and decrease emotional distress.

    Many well-controlled, high quality research studies tell us that cognitive processing therapy is effective for improving distress for people who have suffered a wide variety of traumas, including natural disasters, civil war, combat trauma, sexual assault, domestic violence, and car accidents. Cognitive processing therapy is a short-term therapy; most clients complete CPT in 12-14 sessions. Research on trauma tells us that people who develop PTSD or struggle after trauma tend to develop unhelpful beliefs that cause them to be “stuck” in their recovery process. You might be experiencing this as unhelpful thoughts around trust such as, “People can’t be trusted”. Of course, these thoughts likely prevent you from accessing or fully participating in close, caring relationships. So, CPT focuses on the unhelpful thoughts connected to the trauma.

  • Prolonged Exposure Therapy, or PE, is another therapy that has been found by a large number of research studies to effectively treat PTSD and other symptoms that develop in the aftermath of trauma. Prolonged Exposure has been used successfully with survivors of sexual assault, combat trauma, car accidents, natural disasters, and other traumas.

    PE is based on research that tells us that people who develop PTSD or other significant symptoms after a trauma do so because they are unable to process the memory of the trauma and assimilate it, which is what we need to do to be able to move on from a trauma. People are unable to do this because of cognitive and behavioral avoidance, that is they avoid thinking about the trauma and avoid situations and activities that remind them of the trauma. This avoidance prevents them from being able to process the trauma memory and assimilate it in a healthy way. Think of a file drawer with papers everywhere that can’t be closed. Those papers represent the traumatic memory. As a treatment, PE helps those who are struggling with trauma to open that drawer, go through the memories, organize them, and understand them in new ways, so that the drawer can be closed and the client can move on with their lives.

How Does Trauma Therapy Help?

In trauma therapy, you can also learn healthy ways to cope with difficult emotions and problematic physical reactions. As you begin feeling safe again, you can start to regulate your emotional and physical reactions and better understand and assimilate the difficult event. Our therapists can help you apply new skills so you can make the changes that you seek .

Holding the hands of a traumatized client.

What Clients Say

Clients who have undergone trauma therapy with us for PTSD and trauma symptoms report that they are glad that they chose to seek therapy. In addition to reporting fewer nightmares, better sleep quality, improved mood, an increased desire to engage with loved ones and better relationships, most clients express that although trauma therapy cannot change what happened, it has helped them to feel a sense of control once again in their lives. With the right approach and in a safe and supportive environment, you, too, can experience relief from trauma symptoms and begin to live with joy, confidence and peace again.

Although you may be ready to seek help, you still may have questions or concerns about trauma therapy…

  • The simple truth is that you can’t afford not to engage in treatment for traumatic symptoms. Trauma therapy is an investment in yourself, and persistent symptoms are unlikely to go away on their own. People with trauma symptoms often feel that the traumatic event has overwhelmed them and taken over their lives. Treating your trauma can help you truly reclaim your life and lead to improved concentration and productivity at work and in daily life. You can feel connected again in relationships, able to experience happiness and contentment. Your loved ones will notice the change as you improve.

    In addition, we will respect your time. The methods we use will promote lasting change in a time-efficient manner. We understand that you don’t want to spend years and years in therapy; you want to feel better and get back to your life.

  • Often, people are afraid to try therapy. They believe that talking about the traumatic event will make it worse, however, the opposite is true. Research shows that therapy that includes processing the traumatic event in a safe, collaborative therapeutic relationship is the most effective treatment approach. Through trauma therapy, you can work through painful feelings and memories and rebuild a purposeful life. You can experience more satisfaction in your relationships and improve your overall quality of life. While trauma therapy cannot change what has happened, it can help you build a new life that assimilates the traumatic event in a way that promotes hope and strength.

  • In our work with you, we will meet you where you are and we will move at a pace that fits your needs. Ultimately, our goal is to help you understand what happened and create a new life.

Our therapists are skilled and knowledgeable and ready to help you work through your trauma so you can move forward and build the life you want.