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What is Trauma Therapy?
Trauma is what happens when your brain has to either take in too much information at once or has to learn to cope with not having enough information for long periods of time. Trauma can be born from a singular incident in which your brain is activated into “fight or flight” mode, fearing for its safety and survival; or from chronic exposure to environments and/or relationships in which your safety and basic needs are unmet or in jeopardy.
Many will experience at least one traumatic event in our lives, and may have the support and resources to navigate and adjust to post-traumatic life. However, many struggle to reconnect with themselves and others following trauma. Maybe you notice your patience is thinner, your confidence and mood are lower, relationships feel more difficult, or you feel constantly on edge. These may all be signs that the trauma you’ve experienced is still stored in your brain and body, needing to be honored and processed.
What does processing trauma look like?
One of the first steps in processing trauma can be to build a relationship with a trauma-informed therapist. Trauma happens in relation to others and therefore, must be healed in relation to others. Our trauma-informed therapists will walk alongside you at your pace, building trust and comfort along the way. We recognize that there is no one size fits all method for treating trauma as each individual and set of experiences is different. Therefore, we work with you to create a plan that meets your unique needs and moves at your pace.
This may look like creating a safe and nonjudgmental space for you to share your experiences, help you identify their connections to the patterns you feel stuck in and understand what your primary triggering sources are. This knowledge can empower you to connect more with yourself and the needs you still have unmet. Our trauma-informed therapists will work with you to take action steps towards meeting these needs by utilizing mind/body connection techniques, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), grounding skills, inner child connection, and/or cognitive reprocessing.
Our trauma-informed therapists also recognize the impact trauma has throughout generations of a family or community as well as on cultural, systemic, and institutional levels. We recognize that trauma impacts each person differently due to the intersecting identities and experiences they hold. We honor this for each individual and are committed to naming and addressing the societal and cultural traumas experienced by many, integrating this into your individual healing journey.
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Leslie Trentham
Clinical Social Work/Therapist, LMSW
Trauma and PTSD • Anxiety • Women’s Issues • Adoption • Codependency • Coping Skills • Depression • Domestic Abuse • Domestic Violence • Family Conflict • LGBTQ+ Allied • Life Transitions • Open Relationships • Non-Monogamy • Parenting • Peer Relationships • Relationship Issues • Self Esteem • Sex-Positive • Kink Affirming • Sexual Abuse • Stress
