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WHAT IS TRAUMA?
Trauma describes the way stressful or threatening experiences disrupt the nervous system’s capacity to regulate, connect, and cope — leaving you stuck in patterns designed for survival. It can come from single events (accidents, assaults, medical procedures) or long-term experiences (childhood emotional neglect, abusive relationships, unstable homes, discrimination, immigration stress, or identity-based harm).
People seeking trauma therapy often describe:
- Shame, self-blame, or confusion.
- Negative self-concept (thoughts like "I am bad" or "I'm not good enough," "no one likes me," "I'm a failure," or "I don't deserve to be happy.")
- Feeling on edge, easily startled, or constantly bracing for something bad to happen.
- Relationship challenges (i.e., trouble trusting people or feeling close, codependency, insecurity, avoidance.)
- Emotional numbness or feeling disconnected from themselves.
- Flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive memories.
- Difficulty setting boundaries or tolerating conflict.
- People-pleasing and perfectionism rooted in survival patterns.
- Feeling “stuck,” unmotivated, or exhausted.
- Trauma responses (freeze, fawn, flight, fight) that feel automatic
Acute Trauma
Acute trauma comes from a single overwhelming event — like an accident, assault, natural disaster, or sudden loss. The nervous system is shocked by something unexpected and intense, but it’s time-limited. Healing often focuses on helping the body and mind process that one event and restore a sense of safety.
Complex Trauma
Complex trauma develops from repeated, ongoing, or chronic harm, often within relationships or environments that should have been safe — such as childhood emotional neglect, inconsistent caregiving, domestic violence, or long-term instability. Instead of one event, it’s a pattern that shapes how a person learns to see themselves, their relationships, and the world. Healing involves rebuilding safety, identity, trust, and regulation over time.
COMPLEX-RELATIONAL TRAUMA & ATTACHMENT
Because attachment is formed through those same early relationships, complex-relational trauma directly shapes how the nervous system learns to connect, protect, and cope. When a caregiver is the source of comfort and the source of fear, a child’s attachment system becomes confused. The body learns that closeness is unsafe, but distance is unbearable. Over time, this can develop into the following attachment styles/patterns:
WHAT TREATMENT LOOKS LIKE IN SESSION WITH ME
When you come into session, we start by slowing everything down. I want to understand not just what happened to you, but how you’ve learned to survive. Early sessions are focused on helping you feel grounded and safe with me—no pressure to share anything before you’re ready. As we build trust, we begin piecing together the patterns your nervous system developed in response to pain: the hypervigilance, the shutdowns, the soothing habits, the ways your body still feels like it’s bracing for something. Together, we identify the parts of your life that feel most impacted—relationships, self-worth, boundaries, or the way you talk to yourself when no one’s listening. From there, we set goals that feel realistic and empowering, like reducing emotional overwhelm or feeling more in control during triggers. In our work, I help you gently reconnect with your body, understand your emotions rather than fear them, and slowly reclaim the parts of your life trauma has shaped. Over time, you’ll notice you can pause before reacting, breathe more freely, and live in a way that isn’t driven by threat but by choice. We continuously check in on what’s working and what’s not so therapy always feels collaborative and supportive.
Together, we'll focus on:
- understanding how trauma shapes your patterns
- strengthening your ability to regulate emotions
- reconnecting with your body and internal sense of safety
- building healthier boundaries and relationships
- unlearning things that no longer serve you
Evidence-Based Treatments for Trauma
Narrative Exposure Therapy
Narrative Exposure Therapy
Narrative Exposure Therapy
A structured approach that helps you recall memories safely so the brain can process and integrate them properly. NET helps people make sense of their trauma without getting stuck in overwhelming emotions.
Internal Family Systems
Narrative Exposure Therapy
Narrative Exposure Therapy
This approach helps you understand the different “parts” of yourself — like the critical part, anxious part, angry part, or the protective part — and helps you better understand and communicate with these parts, creating internal harmony and self-compassion.
Trauma-Informed CBT
Narrative Exposure Therapy
Trauma-Informed CBT
TF-CBT blends talking and skill-building to help process traumatic memories while teaching coping tools for stress, intrusive thoughts, and difficult emotions. It’s practical and supportive, especially for managing reactions in daily life.
Somatic Therapy
Narrative Exposure Therapy
Trauma-Informed CBT
Trauma isn’t just in the mind — it lives in the body. Somatic therapy helps you notice bodily sensations, tension, and stress patterns, and learn ways to release and regulate them. This helps the nervous system feel safer and calmer.
TREATING attachment wounds
Building self-awareness
- Naming patterns without shame
- Mapping triggers and relational cycles
- Understanding origin stories (“This was adaptive then, but it’s not serving me now.”)
Nervous System Regulation
- Practicing co-regulation and self-regulation
- Improving emotional tolerance
- Using secure relationships (therapeutic or personal) as corrective experiences
Boundary work
- For anxious/codependent styles → learning to tolerate space, say no, reduce overfunctioning
- For avoidant styles → expanding window of tolerance for intimacy, expressing needs, softening self-protection
Rewriting relational rules
- Closeness doesn’t require losing self
- Independence doesn’t require shutting people out
- Safety can exist in balanced, reciprocal relationships