Trauma Therapy
Do You Feel Undeserving Of Happiness And Success?
As much as you try not to focus on troubling memories, do past events continue to negatively impact your life? Do you pour yourself into work—or engage in unhealthy habits—to avoid confronting complicated emotions? Deep down, do you feel unworthy of the success you have attained?
No matter how busy you keep yourself, perhaps you cannot outrun the lingering sense that you are not okay. The death of a loved one, a neglectful parent, or the end of a significant relationship may affect your worldview. Even though you might have worked hard to attain a flourishing career, maybe deep down, you feel broken and undeserving off your achievements.
You May Find Distractions Comforting
You might feel afraid to stop moving for fear of shifting your attention inward and allowing troubling emotions to surface. Instead, you might find ways to distract yourself that deliver “dopamine hits,” such as using substances, scrolling through social media, eating too much, gambling, or shopping online. Although these distractions may work temporarily, eventually you find yourself back where you started.
If you can’t get over what happened or overcome the fear it may happen again, you may be anxious or depressed. Your relationships may also be affected, making it difficult to let your guard down and trust others. Even when things are going well, you may worry that it’s only a matter of time before the other shoe drops.
You might believe there is no one you can talk to, which may lead to a sense of isolation. Fortunately, trauma therapy provides a safe and supportive space to talk about how you feel. In counseling, you can come to terms with your trauma and rewrite a new story for yourself.
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The Human Experience Is Entwined With Trauma
A part of being human means we experience traumatic events throughout our lives. However, we are often ill-equipped to handle the troubling events we encounter. These events can have a lasting impact on our mental well-being.
No one teaches us how to handle trauma. Instead, we might observe how others handle similar situations and mimic what they do. However, this can lead us to adopt unhealthy coping mechanisms, like substance use or engaging in numbing behaviors to mask our pain. Unfortunately, these habits can compound our issues and make us feel worse.
Trauma Is Never Subjective
Because trauma is a unique experience for everyone, no two traumas are the same. Many of us equate trauma with “Big T” events—like active combat, natural disasters, or suffering physical, sexual, or emotional abuse—without recognizing the impact of more subtle forms of “little t” traumas. We may gloss over events in our “idyllic” childhoods, overlooking the “little t” experiences that shaped how we think about ourselves and the world around us.
Oftentimes, we’re raised to believe that it’s better to "suck it up and move on" than admit vulnerability. Or maybe we were told that no one likes a complainer, so we learned to bury our pain rather than express how we feel. However, avoiding painful emotions has a way of catching up with us. If we want to shift to a more positive mindset, eventually we have to confront unaddressed trauma.
Therapy provides you with the tools to heal from trauma. Utilizing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Narrative Therapy, counseling can help you move past trauma and redefine your narrative so that it is in alignment with your strengths and values.
Therapy Can Help You Recognize And Resolve Trauma
With awareness about trauma becoming more mainstream, perhaps you have recently started to wonder how trauma has impacted you. If your intuition is telling you to pay closer attention to past experiences, trauma therapy offers a safe space to explore what happened and better understand what you are thinking, feeling, and hoping for.
As a trauma counselor, I will provide you with a supportive environment to safely delve into disturbing memories you may have avoided thinking about until now. Utilizing evidence-based trauma treatments like EMDR, I offer effective ways to defuse these memories so that you are no longer bogged down by their emotional intensity.
What To Expect From Trauma Counseling
For many of us, our childhood experiences influenced the worldview we carried into adulthood. They are the lens through which we perceive ourselves and others. You may be unaware of how these experiences shape and impact your sense of self, especially when they are negative. Once we have explored your goals and reasons for starting therapy, I will help you identify your core issues so you better understand why what happened was so impactful.
By examining protective beliefs that may claim “I had a great childhood," we can uncover “Big T” and “little t” traumas that continue to impact you. We will also discuss current events in your life that may trigger previous traumas and explore ways you can resolve these issues.
The Modalities I Use In Trauma Therapy
EMDR therapy is an effective approach to address unresolved trauma. Targeting disturbing memories while engaging in bilateral stimulation—non-invasive methods like eye movements or cross-lateral finger tapping that connect both hemispheres of the brain—allows distressful memories that still feel immediate to shift into long-term memory where their emotional intensity isn’t as strongly felt.
Once EMDR has neutralized the trauma associated with past experiences, Narrative Therapy can help you tell your story with a renewed focus on your values. Utilizing trauma-focused Narrative Therapy, we can turn down the volume on whatever experiences from the past have troubled you so you can learn a new way of storytelling. Writing a new story for yourself empowers you to decide on the life you want to live and use your own narrative to help you achieve your goals. Through skill-building and externally deconstructing your challenges in sessions, you can discover how best to make meaningful changes going forward.
Experiences from the past don’t have to define who you are today or affect your future trajectory. In trauma therapy, you can take control of your story and chart a new course for yourself with renewed resilience, confidence, and hope.
But Maybe You’re Not Sure If Trauma Therapy Is Right For You…
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Recounting painful experiences can be difficult but you won't go through this experience alone. As a therapist who specializes in trauma, I will serve as your guide to help you reprocess disturbing memories. We will collaborate to create a plan you feel comfortable and safe with, before exploring hard things from your past. As your counselor, I will check in with you throughout trauma therapy to ensure you feel supported each step of the way.
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Trauma is broadly defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. Throughout your life, you may have been exposed to experiences that have had a lingering effect on how you think, feel, and behave. Working with a trained trauma therapist can help you gain a better understanding of your symptoms and determine whether or not evidence-based treatments, such as EMDR or trauma-focused narrative therapy, would be suitable.
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It’s completely normal to feel overwhelmed by past traumatic experiences one day and then feel okay the next. However, never knowing from one day to the next how you may feel emotionally or physically can be debilitating. Trauma therapy can provide you with the necessary tools to effectively manage your thoughts, feelings, and emotions on a daily basis.
Finding Peace Within Allows You To Chart A New Course
When you are in control of your narrative, the world offers fresh possibilities. To find out more about trauma counseling with Sage and Sunshine Therapy, please call or text 813-539-8990 or visit my contact page.
Trauma Therapy in San Francisco, CA
3322 Steiner St, San Francisco, CA 94123
Online sessions available for California and Florida residentsLearn More >