Trauma Therapy
Empowering Individuals in Washington State and Nebraska to release the weight of the past to fully show up and thrive in the present
Okay, but what even is trauma really? And how do I know if I’ve been impacted by it?
Good question! My favorite way to describe “trauma”, is any experience (yes, truly ANY experience) that was too overwhelming for your internal system to fully process and understand in the moment. It’s not what happened (or didn’t happen) that defines something as traumatic, but how the individual experiences the event. So this is very much individualized to the person. Two people could experience the exact same event and have a completely different internal experience.
Ex) Siblings who grew up in the same household, experienced the same abuse or neglect, yet one appears to be well adjusted and seemingly unimpacted, while the other struggles with feelings of self-worth and to maintain healthy boundaries within relationships.
People may experience the effects of trauma in a variety of different ways- here are a few examples:
My mind says one thing, but the pit in my stomach, or the way my body is responding says something different. There’s a mismatch happening here between what I logically know and what I feel to be true.
There’s NO WAY I’m going home for Christmas. Just the thought of being around my parents send me back to feeling like that little girl who couldn’t do anything right in their eyes.
A minor incident happens that your rational brain may know (after the fact) that it’s totally not personal and not a big deal, but it FEELS completely personal and that it most certainly IS a huge deal.
My boss casually offers some constructive feedback, and while logically I know it’s not a big deal, I feel like it’s the end of the world- I’m a failure and I will likely be fired!
Intrusive thoughts, feelings, beliefs about myself and/or images hijack my attention way more often than what I may care to admit to others and I’m utterly exhausted.
You do not have to continue feeling held back and limited by your past- out of alignment and conflicted between your logical and emotional self.
Together we will process the wounds of the past while cultivating the necessary skills to live from a place of presence. From here the future becomes far more clear, hopeful and expansive.
“Your life can either be a record of the past or a map towards the future.”
EMDR to support in processing trauma
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is the intentional process of aligning your thoughts, emotions and body through any form of bilateral movement (back and forth movement like tapping, eye movements, walking, etc.) and taking the overwhelming intensity and negative influence out of past experiences. Processing your past unlocks doors to your future and grants you wisdom that is gained only through your healed and integrated pain.
Sometimes these overwhelming experiences are seemingly obvious events like abuse, accidents or the death of a loved one, but often times the events are more subtle and thus more challenging to put your finger on. Often times the deepest, most engrained experiences that are still impacting you now can be traced back to earlier events or relationships that may not even seem like that big of a deal now, but at the time they were deeply impactful, and therefore continue to have an influence. EMDR is the process of exploring how these experiences impacted you then, how they have added a negative filter to the way you live your life now, and to then fully process these experiences so you can finally engage with your life from a place of presence- not the past.
As clinical as EMDR may initially sound, it’s actually a highly intuitive, energetic, and natural process. Your nervous system already knows how to heal, we just need to provide the conditions to foster and support this healing and get out of the way. There’s nothing you need to figure out or force, rather simply ALLOW the process to unfold. New perspectives, even a sense of acceptance and appreciation can be extracted from what was previously unbearable to even think about. Revisiting your past is taking your power back while showing grace, compassion and love to the past self who experienced the pain and did the very best they could at that time to make it through.
It's not all about the negative... let's build up those strengths!
EMDR is also utilized to gain confidence in preparation for future events by identifying and tapping into existing strengths, amplifying them and utilizing them in an intentional and focused way through visualization.
Evidenced Based Trauma Treatment to support you in your healing and propel you in your growth
The Flash Technique for processing trauma
Similar to EMDR, Flash utilizes bilateral movements to decrease the intensity of traumatic, or overwhelming experiences and emotions. What makes Flash unique, is that the processing is done without focusing on the disturbing material.
Flash can be used on its own or will sometimes be utilized prior to EMDR to reduce intensity around material that is particularly activating.
Flash works amazing for taking the ‘heat’ out of any situation that feels overwhelming or that’s clouded by intense emotions or physical sensations.
This quick and highly effective process is also evidence-based.
Common Reactions/feedback around Flash:
“It seems further away” (the distressing memory/event)
“It’s there but it just doesn’t seem to matter that much anymore”
People often report being able to recall the memory without the intensity of the moment being attached to it.