Trauma

What Is Trauma

Trauma, as Peter Levine defines it, “is not what happens to us but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathic witness.” Trauma can result from life experiences that are emotionally painful, distressing, threatening and overwhelm our ability to cope. Some trauma-inducing experiences include acute incidences, such as the sudden death of a loved one, sexual assault, natural disasters or an accident.  Others are cumulative, such as childhood abuse, systemic oppression and exposure to ongoing violence. Trauma can damage our sense of safety, trust and ability to respond effectively to present experiences. Healing trauma by attending to both the story of past experiences and the state of the nervous system and physiology in the present can help us to develop resilience, access vitality and restore meaningful connection with others.

What Are Some Symptoms Of Unresolved Trauma

The distress caused by unprocessed trauma can be subtle or overt, and can take many forms. Common symptoms of traumatic stress include: anxiety, hyper or hypo vigilance, fearfulness, numbness, avoidance, relational distress, feeling isolated or unsafe, and physical distress such as chronic tension, pain or inflammation. These symptoms can impact work, relationships, social functioning, physical health, and make it difficult to cope with daily life. Persistence of these symptoms over time can result in a number of post-traumatic stress conditions, including PTSD.

What Can I Expect From Therapy For Trauma

My approach to trauma healing is grounded in the development of a safe and supportive therapeutic relationship that is sensitive to your needs and preferences. I am trained in Somatic Experiencing, a gentle yet effective approach that helps to resolve “stuck” physiological states and release energy bounded by traumatic stress.

We may talk in detail about the painful experiences that resulted in your trauma or we may not. A somatic approach to trauma understands that the body holds memories and experiences as much as the mind. Inviting movement, identifying sensations and increasing your knowledge of physiological responses to threat can help you to complete protective responses and release what in the past may not have been safe to feel, share or see. We will work together to identify, understand and reorient the protective nervous system states, such as flight, flight or freeze, that helped you to survive traumatic experiences in the past but that might also be keeping you stuck in habituated responses that are not helpful or needed in the present.

Working directly with physiological and nervous system responses to chronic stress and trauma can help to regulate emotions, increase distress tolerance and expand your capacity to meet life as it is in this moment. The duration of our work together is determined by your goals. Healing from trauma and learning to adjust to a life impacted by trauma can take time. Read more about Somatic Experiencing.

Trauma Reading List

Badenoch, Bonnie (2018). The Heart of Trauma: Healing the Embodied Brain in the Context of Relationships.

Epstein, Mark (2013). The Trauma of Everyday Life.

Herman, Judith (1997). Trauma and Recovery.

Lee, Deborah & James, Sophie (2013). The Compassionate-Mind Guide to Recovering from Trauma and PTSD: Using Compassion-Focused Therapy to Overcome Flashbacks, Shame, Guilt and Fear.

Levine, Peter (1997). Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma.

Levine, Peter (2008). Healing Trauma: A Pioneering Program for Restoring the Wisdom of Your Body.

Scaer, Robert (2012). 8 Keys to Brain-Body Balance.

Van Der Kolk, Bessel (2015). The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma.