Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder & Complex Trauma
Does this sound like you or someone you know?
Re-experiencing or re-living stressful events
Intrusive memories or unwanted thoughts
Avoiding things that remind me of the stressor
Feeling panic when I am reminded of the stressor
Feeling on-edge or easily startled
Issues with sleep and nightmares
Feeling more pain or discomfort in my body
New difficulty with controlling my emotions
Experiences of unreality, feeling disconnected from my self or the world
Trouble concentrating or lapses in memory
Feeling deep despair, like I might be permanently damaged
Feeling intense guilt and shame
Feeling disconnected to others, issues trusting again
Needing to distract myself with substances, pain, sex, entertainment, or work
Sometimes these symptoms can emerge after a stressful event or experience. Common traumas including severe human suffering, child physical abuse, physical assault, unwanted sexual experiences, and the sudden death of a loved one. Further examples include serious medical events, witnessing dead bodies, transportation accidents, natural disasters, house fires, torture, neglect, domestic violence, witnessing or experiencing effects of homicide or suicide, terrorism, mass violence, racial violence, gender-based violence, humanitarian crises, family separation, adoptee experiences, forced migration. No matter the stressor, the trauma that is experienced can impact the mind and body. You can read more about how some people process trauma without developing trauma and stress related disorders.
If you are here because you are experiencing the above symptoms, I am glad you are here. Please know that PTSD and C-PTSD are treatable conditions that can reach remission. Know that your therapist can hold hope for you as you navigate trauma therapy treatment.
I provide the following treatments for PTSD and CPTSD:
Prolonged Exposure (PE) - a first-line treatment
Research shows it is effective in reducing symptoms and improving overall functioning. Though it might sound scary, we will go at your pace, monitor your stress, and use grounding skills throughout the process. I will not be your enemy, but your guide, walking hand in hand with you as we reduce the avoidance that is keeping you stuck. Together we will practice standing in the face of the things that feel most triggering and remembering that you are here and alive in the now.
Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) - a second line treatment
Research shows that this is has been most effective in relationship to political and cultural trauma. By re-telling and re-authoring your story, we can see it from a new perspective and see how the traumatic events have impacted who you are today. It might feel like we are writing a book, if that book had chapters on your sensory information, your feelings, thoughts, and visual memories. At the end of treatment we can hold a tangible biography or creative artwork that speaks to the life you have lived.
I will use a multi-modal or eclectic approach, blending a trauma treatment with body-awareness, DBT mindfulness skills, and ACT value identification skills so that you can feel supported as a whole person. Similarly to how I talk about gender, just because you come to me with trauma, doesn’t mean I automatically become your Trauma Only Therapist™ We can work on what comes up for you, even if you might think it’s “a lot.” My job is to hold that space for you. As a provider who has lived experience with CPTSD and PTSD, I learned first hand just how important trauma treatment is. I am here for you (and will take care of my own mental health, because that’s a part of my job).
There are many other first-line and second-line treatments for PTSD and C-PTSD. If you would like to explore other treatment options such as Cognitive Processing Therapy or EMDR, please reach out and I can connect you to colleagues who are currently trained in these modalities. Additionally if you would like to try holistic and somatic-based treatments such as Somatic Experiencing for trauma, I have colleagues who I would highly recommend.
If you are interested in taking the next step,