Trauma

Most people do not realize that any event that overwhelms their system can result in trauma. Even a normal-functioning person can have an experience that throws them into emotional and physical distress, which can get worse over months and years if it is not addressed.

Types of Trauma:

• PTSD
• Complex trauma
• Developmental trauma
• Transgenerational trauma
• Racial Trauma
• Sexual Abuse
• Physical Abuse
• Emotional Abuse/psychological maltreatment
• Neglect
• Community violence
• Domestic Violence
• War-related trauma
• Medical Trauma
• Natural Disasters

Trauma can influence or lead to harmful habits and maladaptive behaviors. Early trauma can influence or lead to harmful habits later in life. Emerging feelings such as anger, shame, and powerlessness can manifest as self-abuse, addiction, acting-out, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. Sometimes a person is unaware of their trauma but recognizes a feeling of being overwhelmed or stressed.

Treating Trauma

The first step is to inform and educate my clients about trauma; how it operates in the mind and the way it affects biology. Once they understand trauma, it becomes easier to start healing from it. For someone who is living in the dark, sometimes all you need to do is turn the lights on, so they can begin to see their own thought patterns.

I help my clients work through their feelings and understand body sensations such as automatic responses; fight, flight, or freeze mechanisms; and defense mechanisms. While these are necessary, life-saving stress responses, individuals who experience trauma lose the ability to regulate them. I give my clients resources and techniques that help them self-soothe and regulate these functions.

I teach mindfulness to help my clients empower themselves and no longer be controlled by their subconscious thoughts. The main goal is to gain awareness of your mind and body, increasing your capacity for connection and the ability to feel alive and safe. From there, you can begin to create new beliefs, ways of thinking, patterns of behavior, and ways of interacting in the world.