Trauma therapy is a specialized form of psychological treatment designed to help you process and heal from traumatic experiences that continue to impact your daily life. Unlike traditional talk therapy, Trauma therapy uses evidence-based approaches that target the way traumatic memories are stored in your brain and nervous system.

Many women who come to my practice have spent years wondering if their experiences were "bad enough" to warrant Trauma therapy. The truth is that trauma is not defined by the event itself but by how it impacted you. If past experiences continue to affect your thoughts, feelings, relationships, or physical health, trauma therapy may be beneficial.

Trauma therapy can address a wide range of experiences, from single-incident traumas to complex, ongoing traumatic situations. There is no hierarchy of trauma, and your experience is valid regardless of how it might compare to someone else's story.

Single-incident traumas include events like car accidents, medical procedures, assaults, natural disasters, or witnessing violence. These one-time events can create lasting impacts, particularly if you did not have adequate support to process what happened at the time.

Complex trauma typically refers to repeated or prolonged traumatic experiences, often occurring during childhood or in situations where you could not easily escape. This might include growing up in a home with addiction, mental illness, or domestic violence. It can also include emotional neglect, where your emotional needs were consistently unmet even if your physical needs were provided for.

Many women who contact me worry about having to recount traumatic experiences in explicit detail. The thought of reliving painful memories can feel overwhelming, and this concern sometimes prevents people from seeking the help they need.

I want you to know that effective trauma therapy does not require you to repeatedly tell your story in painful detail. The therapeutic approaches I use, including EMDR and Accelerated Resolution Therapy, can be highly effective without extensive verbal disclosure of what happened.

During your intake session, I will ask you to share enough information for me to understand what brings you to therapy and what you want to work on changing. You can share as much or as little detail as feels comfortable. My goal is to understand how past experiences are affecting you now, not to extract every detail of what happened.

When we move into trauma processing work, you can think about the traumatic memory internally without describing it aloud. I will guide you through the process, but you maintain control over what you share verbally. Many clients find this approach less retraumatizing than traditional talk therapy, where repeatedly recounting traumatic events can sometimes reinforce the distress rather than resolve it.

The duration of trauma therapy varies significantly from person to person, and there is no standard timeline that applies to everyone. Your healing journey is unique, and the time it takes depends on several factors.

The nature and complexity of your trauma plays a significant role. If you are working through a specific traumatic incident, treatment may be relatively brief, particularly with focused approaches like EMDR or Accelerated Resolution Therapy. Some clients experience significant relief in a matter of weeks or a few months when addressing specific events.

However, if you experienced complex or developmental trauma, particularly trauma that occurred repeatedly over time during childhood, healing typically takes longer. Complex trauma affects your sense of self, your relationships, and your nervous system in deeper ways that require more comprehensive treatment. Building internal resources, developing nervous system regulation skills, and addressing multiple layers of traumatic experiences takes time.

Trauma therapy sessions in my practice are structured yet flexible, always tailored to where you are in your healing journey and what you need most in that moment.

Your first session is a 50-minute intake appointment. This is a guided conversation where I get to know you and understand what you would like to work on changing. I will ask about your current symptoms, how past experiences are affecting you now, your support system, and your goals for therapy. This session helps me understand the full picture of your life and begin developing a treatment plan that addresses your specific needs.

Before we dive into processing traumatic material, we focus on building a foundation of safety and resources. This might take one session or several, depending on your current coping skills and nervous system regulation abilities. I teach you practical tools to manage anxiety, ground yourself when you feel overwhelmed, and regulate your nervous system. These skills are essential for trauma processing and for your daily life outside of therapy.

Once we begin trauma processing work using EMDR, ART, or other modalities, sessions typically involve a combination of processing specific memories and building ongoing coping skills. I guide you through the structured protocol, but you remain in control. You can signal to me if you need to pause, slow down, or take a break.

Yes, Trauma therapy can significantly help with physical symptoms that have roots in unresolved trauma. Your body and mind are deeply interconnected, and traumatic experiences affect both.

When you experience trauma, your nervous system becomes dysregulated. It can get stuck in a state of hyperarousal (always on high alert) or hypoarousal (shut down and numb), or alternate between these states. This chronic nervous system dysregulation affects your entire body, contributing to a wide range of physical symptoms.

Many women I work with experience chronic pain, tension headaches, digestive issues, or other physical concerns that medical professionals struggle to fully explain. You may have been to multiple doctors, undergone numerous tests, and received diagnoses that do not quite capture what you are experiencing. Often, these symptoms have a strong connection to unresolved trauma and chronic nervous system activation.

The early stages of trauma therapy often look different than what many women expect, and understanding this can help you feel more prepared and confident as you begin your healing journey.

Many clients come to their first session expecting to immediately dive into processing traumatic memories. However, effective trauma therapy actually begins with a crucial foundation-building phase. Before we process difficult material, I prioritize helping you develop the resources and skills you need to feel safe and grounded throughout the therapeutic process.

During these initial sessions, we focus on stabilization and preparation. This means learning practical tools to regulate your nervous system, manage anxiety, and cope with difficult emotions when they arise. You might learn grounding techniques that help you stay present when you feel overwhelmed, breathing exercises that calm your nervous system, or ways to identify and work with the sensations in your body.

This preparation phase is not a delay in treatment but rather an essential component of effective trauma healing. Think of it like preparing for a challenging hike. You would not set out to climb a mountain without proper equipment, supplies, and knowledge of the terrain. Similarly, you need adequate internal resources before engaging in deeper trauma processing work.

Beginning trauma therapy is a significant step, and I have designed my intake process to be as simple and comfortable as possible for you.

Your first step is to contact me to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation. This brief conversation gives us both an opportunity to see if we might be a good fit. You can ask questions about my approach, share a bit about what brings you to therapy, and get a sense of how I work. There is no pressure during this consultation, and it is simply an opportunity to explore whether my services align with your needs.

If we both feel that working together makes sense, the next step is completing a simple onboarding process. I have designed this process to be completed from the comfort of your own home, recognizing that your time is valuable and you may be juggling numerous responsibilities. You will receive intake paperwork that asks about your background, current symptoms, and goals for therapy.