Online Trauma Therapy

Trauma & PTSD

You are not what happened to you. Trauma can make you feel as if something is deeply wrong with you. Trauma can show up as low self-esteem, anxiety, depression and strained relationships. Maybe your loved ones don’t understand you and perhaps you don’t understand what’s happened and why you feel the way you do. It can feel unbearable. Rest assured that you are not alone in this journey and you’ve come to the right place for help.

Psychological trauma is a response to a significant event that a person finds deeply distressing. It overwhelms a person’s ability to cope, causing feelings of helplessness, diminishing their sense of self and safety while impacting their ability to feel a full range of emotions and experiences. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), trauma is “an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster.” Trauma includes wide and varied troubling experiences. For some, this may look like being discriminated against due to race or body size. For those in the LGBTQIA+ community, experiencing homophobia or being cut off from loved ones can be an immense source of pain and can, in fact, be traumatic. Additionally, issues such as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), abuse and neglect, generational trauma, racial trauma, domestic violence, community violence and toxic relationships can also cause trauma responses. To learn about Adverse Childhood Experiences and find your ACES score, read more here.

While many traumatic events can be life threatening and involve physical harm, any situation that leaves you to feel frightened, alienated, disempowered, helpless, and unsafe is traumatic. When people experience trauma, they are often left in a state of panic, depression, hopelessness, disconnection, anxiety, or fear. No trauma can ever be minimized. Your experience is real and your pain is valid. Trauma can cause a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms. Some people will develop symptoms that resolve after a few weeks, while for others it may take longer to resolve. There are three types of trauma including: acute trauma (a single stressful or dangerous event), chronic trauma (multiple, long-term or prolonged distressing traumatic events over an extended period) and complex trauma (exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events or experiences).

A traumatized person can feel a range of emotions both immediately after the event and in the long term. The effects of trauma often vary and are difficult to understand, especially if you are trying to make sense of matters on your own. You may feel overwhelmed, helpless, disconnected from others, or have difficulty processing your experiences. A person who has experienced trauma may have emotional and psychological symptoms such as: denial, anger, fear, sadness, shame, confusion, anxiety, feel numb, guilt, hopelessness, irritability, and have poor concentration. They may have emotional outbursts, become more vigilant, find it difficult to cope with how they feel or withdraw from others. Trauma can also cause physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive symptoms, fatigue, racing heart, unexplained body aches and pains, feeling jumpy or fidgety. This may make it difficult to sleep, focus and live at ease with your day to day activities.

Many people who go through traumatic events may have temporary difficulty adjusting and coping, but with time, support and professional mental health care they typically get better. If the symptoms worsen, persist and do not decrease in severity, last for months or even years, and interfere with your daily functioning, you may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD symptoms may include intrusive memories, avoidance of thinking of the event and avoidance of triggering places, negative thoughts, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, sleep difficulties, nightmares, flashbacks, memory problems, feeling detached, changes in your physical and emotional reactions i.e. easily startled, feeling on guard, sleeping difficulties, self-destructive behavior, guilt or shame.

How Therapy Can Help You

Trauma recovery is a difficult process, but can become more manageable along the way as you learn strategies to strengthen your coping skills and regulate overwhelming feelings. In our therapy, I will provide a safe space for you to ground yourself, feel safe, process your emotions and understand that your pain is completely justified. You are not alone in your process, and therapy can help you address the root cause of your trauma to find constructive ways to manage the symptoms and work towards healing. As a certified Trauma-Informed Clinician, I use Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Techniques (TF-CBT) and Brainspotting to treat clients who have been impacted by trauma to manage their traumatic stress symptoms. If you have been exposed to trauma in your past or present, you can get to that place where your past won’t control you; your fears will lessen, and you will perceive new opportunities for growth that perhaps you couldn’t see before. I also work with LA County to help provide treatment for Victims of Crime.  If you have recently been victimized, I can help you work through feelings of anxiety, grief/loss, and trauma. For additional information related to Victims of Crime, please go to their website California Victim Compensation Board.

Sometimes it is difficult to see past the pain and do the difficult work required to feel safe, but healing is possible when you courageously face your pain. If you are struggling with overwhelming feelings from a traumatic experience, I can provide a comforting space for you to regain control of your life. Please book your free 20 minute consultation below to learn more about how I can help.