“Trauma creates change you don’t choose. Healing is about creating change you do choose.” –Michelle Rosenthal

Most people will experience trauma in their lifetime whether it’s a car accident, abuse or neglect, the sudden death of a loved one, a violent criminal act, exposure to the violence of war, or a natural disaster.

While many people can recover from trauma over time with the love and support of family and friends and bounce back with resiliency, others may discover the effects of lasting trauma, which can cause a person to live with deep emotional pain, fear, confusion, or post-traumatic stress far after the event has passed.

In these circumstances, the support, guidance, and assistance of a therapist is fundamental to healing from trauma.

Trauma Symptoms

According to the four types of symptoms listed in the DSM-5.

Avoidance Symptoms

• Avoiding specific locations, sights, situations, and sounds that serve as reminders of the event
• Anxiety, depression, numbness, or guilt

Re-experiencing Symptoms

• Intrusive thoughts, nightmares, or flashbacks

Hyper-arousal Symptoms

• Anger, irritability, and hyper-vigilance
• Aggressive, reckless behavior, including self-harm
• Sleep disturbances

Negative Mood and Cognition Symptoms

• Loss of interest in activities that were once considered enjoyable
• Difficulty remembering details of the distressing event
• Change in habits or behavior since the trauma

Research has proven psychotherapy to be the most effective form of treatment for trauma. I provide Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Prolonged Exposure (PE) to assist you in processing and treating trauma.

EMDR and PE are specific trauma focused treatment modalities that is highly structured.  Due to the interventions used, both EMDR and PE sessions are usually 90 minutes in length. 

During PE, clients meet with a therapist for approximately 8-12 sessions to complete this trauma specific focus.  PE is highly effective for treating PTSD symptoms, and focuses exclusively on the traumatic event that causes the most pain for the client presently.  PE is not suitable for everyone who has experienced trauma.  The therapist will be able to determine if PE is the right fit for you through assessment of the trauma you experienced and the symptoms you are presenting with.

EMDR is a therapy method that is proven to help people recover from trauma and other life experiences, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and panic disorders. During EMDR, bilateral stimulation (eye movement, tapping, tones) is used to assist with processing distressing memories. EMDR therapy focuses directly on the memory and is intended to change the way that the memory is stored in the brain. Clients are asked to briefly focus on the trauma memory and simultaneously experience bilateral stimulation, with the goal of reducing or eliminating problematic symptoms.

If you or someone you know matches the trauma symptoms listed above, I am confident that I can help and invite you to contact me today for a free consultation.