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. Trauma is not just what people experience in war.

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 effects of lasting trauma, which can cause a person to live with deep emotional pain, fear, confusion, or posttraumatic 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 may include any of the following

• Avoiding specific locations, sights, situations, and sounds that serve as reminders of the event
• Anxiety, depression, numbness, or guilt
• Nightmares or flashbacks
• Anger, irritability, and hypervigilance
• Aggressive, reckless behavior, including self-harm
• Sleep disturbances
• 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

Therapy can help to process a trauma, improve your symptoms, teach new coping skills, teach new problem solving skills and restoring self-esteem and work toward finding a new normal. Trauma processing is a difficult process because you face the difficult emotions, and talk about thoughts and beliefs you have, and face the trauma itself. That being said, you are not alone. You go through this process in a supportive and collaborative environment. Together we will work together to process the trauma, but I will be sure to check-in to make sure we are not going too fast and help you identify and process emotions and thoughts as they come up throughout the process.