Trauma
What is trauma?
When we experience trauma or a traumatic event our survival instinct known as the fight flight or freeze response releases instantly in both brain and body in order to protect us. Our brains are hardwired to protect us and have built in mechanisms to warn and react to any signs of threat. Trauma can be any situation where feelings of helplessness and fear are triggered for the self and even for someone else. Trauma isn’t always what it seems, in fact trauma can be divided into “little t”, for example, being bullied at school, and “Big T”, such as a car accident or near death experience. All ranges and scales of traumatic experience produce the same survival response in the brain and body.
What is the effect of trauma?
Traumatic experiences take us out of our rational thinking mind and understanding simply due to where trauma is stored subconsciously in the brain. The trauma response fight flight or freeze gets stuck and remains unprocessed resulting in a wide range of symptoms. Symptoms of having experienced a traumatic event can include being easily startled, flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance, panic, and even severe depression or anxiety. The aftermath of a traumatic experience often leaves the individual questioning the way they used to view the world and the goodness of humanity.
How I work with trauma?
In order to thoroughly address trauma in a therapeutic setting I work with both talk-therapy and trauma-specific therapies such as Brainspotting and Somatic Experiencing. Since the body stores traumatic experience and memory just like the brain, real healing and integration needs to incorporate both approaches. I provide a safe non-judgmental space for you to process and move forward from the trauma in therapy as well as provide tools to manage and cope with issues outside of session.
Reach out to me
If your are experiencing any form of trauma and would like to speak with someone feel free to reach out to me.