Trauma

Trauma is what happens when an experience overwhelms the nervous system's ability to process and integrate it. It doesn't have to be a single catastrophic event. Trauma can be cumulative, years of living in an unsafe environment, chronic stress, growing up without consistent safety or attunement, repeated experiences of being dismissed or unseen. It can be the result of something that happened, or something that should have happened but didn't.

Trauma leaves a mark not just in memory but in the body, in patterns of response, in the way the nervous system continues to scan for danger even in safe situations. Healing from trauma isn't just about talking through what happened, it's about helping the nervous system learn that the threat has passed.

A trauma-informed approach

Trauma-informed therapy at this practice means that the entire therapeutic relationship is shaped by an understanding of how trauma affects people. It means never pushing clients faster than they're ready to go. It means recognizing that behaviors that might look like resistance or avoidance are often the nervous system doing exactly what it learned to do to survive. It means building safety and trust as a foundation before going anywhere difficult.

Specific approaches used include trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, and relational approaches that work with the interpersonal dimensions of trauma, which, for most people, are at the heart of it.

Childhood trauma and adverse experiences

Many adults carrying the weight of trauma first experienced it as children, in their families, in their schools, in their communities. Children and adolescents are particularly affected by adverse experiences, in part because the developing brain and nervous system are more sensitive to disruption. This practice has significant experience working with the effects of childhood trauma, both in young people experiencing it now and in adults still navigating its long-term impact.

You don't have to relive everything to heal from it. The work moves at the pace that's right for you.