Maybe You’ve Never Thought of Yourself as a Trauma Survivor

are you feeling disconnected from yourself or the people around you? is a painful past experience or trauma making it hard to feel present in your life?

do you struggle with trust issues and finding yourself pulling away from others?

are you experiencing unexplained anxiety, depression, or other mental health struggles?

It’s possible you’ve never thought of your past as "traumatic," but when you look back on your life, there may be experiences you’ve never fully recovered from. Perhaps you dealt with an emotionally controlling or narcissistic partner, or a past relationship with abuse. As a result, you might find it hard to feel safe and have trouble dating because you’re afraid of being hurt again. Maybe you just don’t seem to connect with people the way you used to, and you’re wondering if it’s time to seek therapy for trauma.

Trauma's Impact on Self-Worth

Your inability to maintain healthy relationships could lead to isolation and loneliness. You might find yourself in relationships where your needs go unmet, and you feel unsafe expressing yourself. Deep down, you may struggle to believe that you are worthy of a good life or healthy connections.

To cope with this low self-worth, you may find yourself using self-sabotaging behaviors. Yet although these habits may bring temporary relief, they probably only make you feel worse in the long run.

If you want to improve your self-worth, learn new coping skills, and free yourself from the shackles of the past, counseling can help. I am committed to helping you process and resolve your trauma so you can live a more authentic and empowered life.

You Can Experience Trauma Without Even Realizing It

Contrary to popular belief, trauma doesn’t just happen to people who’ve suffered from war, violence, or natural disasters. It’s a universal predicament that impacts millions of people, and most forms of trauma take place in relatively mundane settings. You can experience trauma from bullying, childhood neglect, giving birth, suffering from a chronic illness, losing a loved one, or having an abusive boss at work.

The truth is that life is really hard and many of us have experiences that—whether we know it or not—dramatically change our lives. Not all of these experiences lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but they can subtly impact the way we approach relationships and cause us to fall into unhealthy patterns of behavior. If there’s something in your past that you’re struggling to recover from, you may have suffered from a traumatic event. The right therapist can help you make connections between the past and present and understand the ways that your experience has affected you.

The Stigma Around Trauma is Starting to Break Down

It’s become increasingly common to talk about trauma in today’s world. Additionally, the rise of social media has emboldened many survivors to come forward and share their stories, helping others to realize they are not alone. That said, a stigma still persists and there is still a culture of shame surrounding people who struggle with prolonged trauma.

This is why it’s so important to seek therapy. It gives you a safe, judgment-free space to work through your emotional pain with someone who will listen to you, validate you, and believe your story.

Therapy Can Help You Integrate Trauma So It Stops Holding You Back

Trauma happens when your brain gets "stuck" on a painful experience and cannot process it correctly. I can help you integrate what happened so that it stops impacting your overall health and you can start living the life you want. When you heal from trauma, your world gets bigger instead of constantly shrinking to accommodate the pain of the past. You can start to trust yourself again, stop engaging in avoidance behaviors, and realize that you are truly worth it. My mission is to help you live from this authentic and empowered place.