Trauma Therapy
Are you struggling to feel safe in your body?
Are you struggling to stay present?
Do you often feel nervous or on edge?
You might also feel anxious, sadness, and unmotivated in your day to day life. There’s a heaviness attached to these emotions, like you’re moving through the world with a huge weight on your shoulders. The weight might often be concealed in hopes of not upsetting or causing others to worry. But because of this, you may find it increasingly difficult to find a sense of ease or peace within yourself and your relationships. This is what living with trauma can feel like, especially when it’s unresolved and unacknowledged. Trauma is defined as a deeply distressing experience in an individual's life that causes damage to the mind.
How do I know if i need trauma therapy?
Trauma affects someone’s ability to respond and cope with their daily life. Traumatic experiences can be (& are not limited to): emotional neglect, bullying, sexual assault, domestic violence, grief, racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, war, car accidents, and medical trauma. There are three types of trauma; acute, chronic, and complex. Each type can cause just as much damage as the other.
what are the Types of Trauma?
● Acute → single incident of traumatic experience
● Chronic → repetitive and prolonged incidents of specific traumatic experience
● Complex → exposure to multiple incidents and types of traumatic experiences that happened for a long period of time or are ongoing.
But people have had it so much worse…
This thought often causes feelings of guilt, shame, and denial surrounding your trauma. It also can be the reason that’s blocking you from seeking help. People who have experienced trauma tend to minimize or blame themselves frequently. It’s important to remember that your trauma is valid and deserves support and care towards healing. Think of it like this, a person who is drowning in six feet of water needs just as much help as someone who is drowning in twelve feet of water.
When we go through traumatic experiences, our brain’s response system changes with them. The parts of our brain that work for our memory, fear, and action signals shift to survival and protection mode. Oftentimes, trauma causes our brains to stay stuck in survival mode when the dangerous or highly stressful events are no longer happening. When our brains are only aiming to protect us, our ability to live meaningful lives is lowered. The impacts of trauma can follow us in our lives for years. (See blog post on Intergenerational Trauma)
What happens when you don’t process trauma?
High levels of anxiety panic attacks
Depression
Disassociation
Being a bully
Disruptive/destructive behavior
Loss of interest in activities/relationships
Lack of trust in others
Lack of emotional regard to yourself & others
Emotional outbursts
Nightmares/Insomnia Substance abuse
How successful is trauma therapy?
Trauma therapy is 77%-100% successful if clients are committed to consistent sessions. Trauma therapy offers a safe space for individuals to share their trauma and process it to understand where they are in the present. We aim to help people through their healing of trauma by offering tools and education on how to live meaningful lives again. Trauma therapy assists people in their journey of breaking generational cycles of trauma. This can look like helping you process emotions, learning how to reground yourself when you are overwhelmed, understanding how trauma can impact your relationships and learning ways to cope.
Trauma Therapy might be for you if you want to:
Feel lighter in your life and relationships
No longer feel haunted by your past
No longer want to avoid and run away from your problems
Process your trauma in a healthy and contained way
Gain tools to help you work through difficult moments on your own
What if I feel like I can’t trust my trauma therapist?
Oftentimes, survivors of trauma struggle in trusting others due to their brain’s desire to protect them. Our therapists are trained to understand this and aim to build trust and respect with you. We understand that it’s not always easy to trust us and are open to having a conversation with you about these feelings. At Space to Reflect, we want your therapy experience to be as collaborative as possible. We want you to feel safe.
What does a trauma therapist do?
Trauma therapy involves deep emotional work that is often overlooked in our daily lives. Experiencing heavy emotions after a session is completely normal. You can think of it like a mental/emotional exercise, at times the soreness can be strong but as you continue your fitness journey- it gets easier and can be fulfilling. At Space to Reflect, we aim to pace our care to provide our clients with tools that help them process and manage any worsened feelings after sessions.