Trauma Therapy
Have You Experienced Trauma That You Can’t Move On From?
Has a traumatic event left you with discomfort and tension in your life?
Do flashbacks that are distressing and distracting occur over and over again?
Are your relationships at home and work full of conflict due to your ongoing agitated state?
Maybe your trauma happened recently, or perhaps you’ve been carrying the pain ever since you were young. Regardless, you may find yourself unable to move on from what happened. Perhaps you’ve told yourself that your experience wasn’t that bad and that you just need to put it behind you, but you still feel anxious, depressed, and deeply overwhelmed. No matter the circumstances or the causes, therapy can help free your mind and body from your trauma responses so you can live on your terms again.
Trauma Can Deeply Impact Your Mind, Body, And Every Area Of Your Life
Your body will tell you if you’ve been through trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to common symptoms, but sometimes they can look like anxiety, depression, or other stress-related conditions. What is traumatic to one person may not be to another, so symptoms vary, but that does not diminish the impact of any traumatic event on an individual.
Symptoms of trauma can be emotional, physical, social, and relational in nature:
Emotional: flashbacks, avoidance behaviors, and hypervigilance
Physical: an exaggerated startle response, chronic pain, digestive issues, heart palpitations, headaches, fatigue, and sleep disturbances
Social: difficulty maintaining relationships, decreased interest in social activities, emotional detachment, irritability, conflict with authority, fear of judgment
Relational: trust issues, fear of intimacy, emotional dysregulation, low self-esteem, isolation
While everything in your life may feel like it's in turmoil due to your trauma right now, you don’t have to keep living like this. Toltec Therapy Services can help you manage your symptoms and process your trauma differently so that it no longer has control over your mind and body and no longer interferes with your well-being.
While Trauma May Be Common, Not Everyone Seeks Help
Nearly 70 percent of adults in the U.S. have experienced a traumatic event at some point in their lives. That’s 223.4 million people.* While trauma may be common, not everyone seeks help. And if they do, they often struggle to find the right therapist to meet their needs, since not every practitioner specializes in working with trauma survivors.
First and foremost, for us to be able to discuss trauma or PTSD, you need a good relationship with your therapist. If we’ve experienced something that is difficult to discuss, we need to feel comfortable with the person we hope to seek help from. Trauma counselors are trained to help you work through trauma in a way that’s safe, gentle, and non-threatening, ensuring that you do not feel retraumatized when discussing the pain of the past.
Breaking Free From Generational Stigma Can Be Life-Changing
Certain communities, especially in Hispanic cultures, tend to avoid seeking mental health care when they need it. This can negatively impact future generations if they never consider therapy as an option. Trauma commonly happens within families during the childhood years, whether it stems from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Someone may struggle to properly address their trauma because they are unfamiliar with the symptoms and unaware that this is what they’re experiencing.
People might normalize isolating themselves or mistakenly think that their angry outbursts are merely signs of a flawed character. They also may not be aware that they are having flashbacks due to trauma, which can lead to dissociation as a coping mechanism.
Understanding that trauma is common, and learning that your emotions and behaviors are not just personality traits but symptoms that therapy can treat, can be a life-altering realization. Help is available and you don’t have to continue living with the pain trauma has caused.
Have Questions? Contact Me
Trauma Therapy Can Get To The Root Of Your Struggles
At Toltec Therapy Services, I can promise you that I’m dedicated to helping you become the best version of yourself. Oftentimes, I find that many of our mental health issues develop from trauma or PTSD. For instance, if you remain in a dysfunctional relationship that doesn’t meet your needs, therapy can help you discover that the reason for staying in the relationship relates to your trauma experiences from childhood. This kind of realization can help free you from your current thinking and give you the clarity to make healthier decisions in your life.
I am committed to being a trauma specialist who utilizes the best practices for helping you. I regularly attend professional development and training on the latest studies to gain as much information as I can about the modalities that best help with trauma.
Treatment Methods That Can Help You Break Through The Turmoil Of Trauma
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can teach you the concept of radical acceptance and help you focus on things in your control so that you don’t feel overwhelmed by trauma. This approach can help you avoid developing unhealthy coping mechanisms and avoiding your pain, which can negatively affect your health and overall well-being.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) helps you feel safe in your body with skills you will develop like grounding and deep breathing to aid with trauma symptoms. This involves poly-vagal therapy that teaches you how stored trauma impacts your bodily functions, leading to physical conditions like heartburn, fibromyalgia, and heart palpitations.
Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy allows you to reprocess traumatic memories so that you can overcome PTSD and reframe your thinking in a more positive way. EMDR is a powerful treatment method that uses bilateral stimulation to aid in the reprocessing of your memories, which can free you from the trap of fight or flight trauma symptoms.
Additionally, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can assist you in challenging negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that stem from trauma, allowing you to change your outlook and live more confidently.
It is possible to get to the point where you can talk about your trauma without feeling as if it is happening to you again and remember it as something that happened in the past in a relaxed body. Counseling can help you live your life without trauma or PTSD dictating your behaviors and live a life that is full of hope, optimism, and well-being. I look forward to helping you achieve that.
You Might Still Have Concerns About Trauma Therapy…
I am worried that others will judge me for seeing a therapist for my trauma.
In today's society, seeking mental health services is more and more accepted and often encouraged. If you fear that those around you might judge you for seeking help, it’s worth remembering that therapy is confidential and no one has to know about your time here. What’s more, there is no shame in getting extra support. I can help you reframe your thinking about mental health care, especially if you’ve experienced stigma about it in the past.
I am concerned about confidentiality and keeping things private. I don’t want the details of my trauma shared with anyone.
We can discuss your concerns in sessions, but I won’t share any information that you don’t want me to share. Sometimes people share distressing information that warrants emergency care, but these are extreme conditions. As I am an out-of-network provider, you can keep your information completely private if you would like to maintain private pay, although I do accept some insurance.
I’ve tried therapy before about my trauma and I’m still struggling - how will this be any different?
Not all therapies are the same, and there is not one cookie-cutter model that works for everyone. Furthermore, there is not one therapist that is perfect for everybody. Reach out for a consultation and we can see if I am the right fit for your needs. You can trust that my training and experience in treating trauma have helped me to become an effective, empathetic therapist, who has helped countless people with methods that work.
Reach Out To Begin Healing From Your Trauma
Toltec Therapy Services can give you the space to share your story, process your trauma, and free yourself from flashbacks and distress. Reach out for a brief phone consultation at (760) 834-9008 or through my contact form to talk about how my therapy practice can help you.
* https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Trauma-infographic.pdf
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