Reclaiming Life: An Integrative Approach To Healing Trauma
Does the weight of past traumatic experiences keep you from finding connection and peace in the present? Are you overwhelmed by the world, lacking the internal resources and capacity to navigate life’s challenges?
Perhaps negative thinking and a general mistrust of others are preventing you from forming deeper relationships. If these challenges resonate with you, you may be living with the symptoms of trauma or PTSD—and therapy could be the way to break free from the grip of your past.
Uncovering Trauma’s Hidden Manifestations
Trauma can trigger a hypervigilant response, suspending you on the edge of anxiety or in the sinking depths of depression, keeping you from enjoying the present. This way of living is unsustainable and can leave you emotionally depleted and physically exhausted.
Trauma can limit your ability for necessary expression, creating safe boundaries, assertions, and the ability to feel comfortable being yourself. As a survivor of trauma, you may intuit neutral responses to stress but often find your actions, behaviors, and emotions have a life of your own.
If this sounds familiar, there is hope! With our trauma specialists at Living Well Psychotherapy, you can embark on a healing journey to find safety, comfort, and confidence as you navigate life’s complexities.
Trauma Is So Common, We Often Don’t Realize Its Prevalence
It is estimated that 61 percent of men and 51 percent of women will experience some form of trauma within their lifetimes¹. While not all trauma translates to PTSD, the impact of any adverse experience—whether in childhood or adulthood—can be lifelong.
Precipitating traumatic events include:
- Domestic violence or sexual assault
- Combat experience or a physical attack
- Childhood neglect, abuse, or abandonment
- Authoritarian or over-bearing parents
- Systemic racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination
These unfortunate circumstances can be found in every community regardless of socio-economic status or demographic.
Many People Suffering From Trauma Avoid Treatment
We are immersed in a culture of unrealistic expectations surrounding self-sufficiency and resilience, where asking for help seems like a sign of weakness or there’s something wrong with you. The internet offers false promises of tools, strategies, and medication that can help relieve trauma. Our culture of escapism also entices us to numb out, self-medicate, or isolate ourselves for comfort.
These remedies only act as temporary bandages. Working with a trauma therapist can help you treat the problem at its source, allowing you to truly heal, free yourself from symptoms, and deepen your connection to yourself.
Together we can gently process your trauma, painful thoughts, feelings, and memories. Our ultimate goal is to empower you to live a more fulfilling life.
Our trauma counselors are trained in numerous evidence-based treatment models like EMDR, IFS, and Somatic Therapy, which have been shown to foster real change—and we’re eager to help you discover their healing potential.
What You Can Expect From Our Trauma Treatment Sessions
In our fist therapy session, we will get to know you—seeking to understand who you are beyond your trauma and symptoms. We will discuss your experiences, symptoms, lifestyle, and support system. We’ll also look at the elements that contribute to your symptoms. These could include adverse childhood experiences, family history, negative thought patterns, and events that impact how you experience the world.
This process of exploration, combined with various therapeutic tools, allows us to create a structured yet flexible approach to trauma and PTSD treatment. We want to help you in discovering your innate strength and resilience, helping you heal and forge your path forward.
A Few Of The Strategies We Use In Trauma Therapy
We offer a flexible, collaborative approach to trauma counseling that utilizes a mix of treatment methods to achieve emotional, neurological, and physical healing. For instance:
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy helps clients process traumatic memories in a safe and contained way while also providing them with skills for soothing their nervous system.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) teaches clients how to connect with, comfort, and protect the internal child parts of themselves that may not have had protectors when they were younger or needed the most support.
Somatic therapy methods help people disconnect from trauma and anxiety by reconnecting them to their bodies and helping them understand what various physical sensations are trying to communicate to them.
No matter where you are in your journey with trauma or PTSD, therapy can be a powerful source of hope and healing. With our support, you can learn to slow down, self-soothe, and prevent the downward spiral into negative thoughts or behaviors.
You will discover who you truly are, what you stand for, and what you expect from others, allowing you to set healthier boundaries. You will learn to rewrite your life story in ways that turn your pain into strength and empower you to reconnect to your body, emotions, and the world around you.
Perhaps You’re Considering Trauma Counseling, But Still Have Thoughts.
Will I have to re-experience my trauma? I don’t want to dig up the past.
The past is always present within us and shows up as our symptoms and responses to adversity, but through therapy, we can control how we respond to the world around us (in our day-to-day life). Therapy provides a safe space to explore your memories, emotional triggers, negative self-talk, limiting beliefs, and the origins of your stressors without reliving your trauma.
I’ve been hurting for so long. It feels like a part of me. Can therapy heal lifelong trauma?
Absolutely! You can heal from trauma and re-learn how to exist in this world without feeling afraid or being held back. Our therapists employ various evidence-based tools that can specifically target trauma and its impact on your life. Although it may feel daunting, it is possible to integrate your narrative in a positive, empowering, and self-affirming way.
Do that many people suffer from trauma?
Millions of people share a similar experience—so you are not alone, even though it may feel that way. The important thing is to mobilize and free yourself from trauma through therapy. There is nothing wrong with you. You merely have unprocessed experiences and emotions that are getting in the way of achieving your potential—and that’s where we can help. Trauma does not define you. You are more than your experiences! It is time to start living a satisfying and fulfilling life now.
You Can Feel Safe And Comfortable In Your Skin—Embrace the Healing Power of Trauma Therapy
If you’re ready to trust yourself and your intuition and find confidence as you move through life, trauma therapy can help you break free from the past.
Please call 847-558-7327 for your free 20-minute consultation to learn more about how our trauma specialists can help with either in-person or online trauma therapy. Our trauma specialists at Living Well Psychotherapy are here to support you on your healing journey.
¹ https://fherehab.com/trauma/statistics
