HEALING TRAUMA
Scarred by the Past
Early trauma can create overwhelming emotions of helplessness, rage, sadness, and despair.
You are with someone you love, and all of a sudden a touch or a phrase they use makes you freeze.
You feel like you are dropping into a black hole, and you won’t be able to get out. You want to run or scream – but you can’t. You don’t know why the room just became dark and your focus narrows. You can’t hear what your loved one is saying, because you are far away.
You start to shake and pull away. You are afraid, but you don’t want to be.
You desperately wish you weren’t feeling what you are feeling.
When your brain is on trauma mode, nothing feels safe.
No matter how much you try to control your reaction, it is overpowering.
You feel it in your body. You want to fight or run away.
It affects your relationships with friends and significant others. Even being at work can be hard, as you never know when the feeling will overcome you.
Most of all, the sense of being on guard is with you day and night. Without help, it can lead to deep depression, a feeling of meaninglessness, and eventual despair.
Hearing Between the Lines
Creating a safe place for someone who has been betrayed, abused, or has never experienced connecting with someone who is emotionally available takes time and careful understanding.
My approach is to listen closely to both what a person says and what they aren’t able to say.
We will work to understand the full experience for a relational healing of a trauma.
This type of work usually involves more time and frequency but can be pivotal to help change the trajectory of your life.
Emotional Healing is Possible With Courage and Deep Commitment
The courage needed to revisit early traumatic experiences in a treatment is enormous.
But, in the therapeutic relationship, you can consider what has already happened, examine how it is affecting your life now, and change the direction of your life through a commitment to yourself and working it through. It means deeply examining difficult feelings and uncovering how they surface in your everyday life.
In the end, a safe treatment experience can increase your emotional freedom as you unhook the past from your current life.