Trauma Informed Therapy

Trauma-Informed Individual Therapy is a therapeutic approach that recognizes the widespread impact of trauma, both big and small, on an individual’s mental health and well-being. It involves creating a safe, empathetic, and non-judgmental space where individuals can process and heal from past traumatic experiences.  Start your journey with us today!

Key Principles of Trauma-Informed Care:

1.     Safety: Creating a physical and emotional environment where the individual feels secure and supported. This includes respecting boundaries and ensuring that the person feels in control of the therapeutic process.

2.     Trustworthiness and Transparency: Building a trusting relationship between therapist and client by being clear about the goals, methods, and processes of therapy. The therapist also respects the client’s autonomy and maintains clear communication throughout.

3.     Choice and Empowerment: Emphasizing the importance of client choice in therapy. Individuals are encouraged to make decisions about their treatment, fostering a sense of control and empowerment in their healing process.

4.     Collaboration: The therapist works alongside the client as a partner in healing, rather than as an authority figure. The individual’s voice and lived experience are central to the therapeutic process.

5.     Cultural, Historical, and Gender Sensitivity: Understanding and respecting the client’s unique cultural, social, and personal context. Trauma-informed therapy recognizes that trauma manifests differently across different populations and ensures that care is sensitive to these factors.

6.     Strengths-Based: Focusing on the individual's strengths and resilience, rather than just their problems. Therapy seeks to highlight the person’s ability to cope and recover, fostering a sense of hope and agency.

Goals of Trauma-Informed Individual Therapy:

• Creating a Safe Space: Establishing a therapeutic environment that helps individuals feel secure enough to explore painful memories or experiences.

• Processing Trauma: Helping clients understand and integrate traumatic events, while minimizing the risk of re-traumatization.

• Empowerment and Healing: Restoring the individual’s sense of control and agency over their lives. Therapy helps them rebuild a sense of safety, trust, and self-worth.

• Coping Strategies: Developing healthier coping mechanisms to manage symptoms like anxiety, flashbacks, dissociation, or emotional numbness, which can arise from trauma.

• Building Resilience: Strengthening the individual’s resilience and ability to face future challenges by fostering emotional regulation and self-compassion.

Therapeutic Approaches in Trauma-Informed Therapy:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Adjusted for trauma, CBT helps individuals identify and reframe distorted thoughts linked to traumatic experiences, fostering healthier thinking patterns.  Creating healthier thinking patterns enable us to develop and change behaviors that can block life satisfaction; such as disordered eating, substance use, and reactive emotions.

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Empowers clients through mindfulness, communication skills, emotional regulation and distress tolerance to regain a core sense of self and self-efficacy.  DBT is often considered trauma recovery foundationing as it help restore a strong sense of self, creating an internal platform of strength and confidence that guides  us in ‘creating a life worth living’ through cognitive and behavioral techniques. 

• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and Brain Spotting: A therapeutic technique specifically designed to help individuals process and heal from trauma-related memories through positioning of the eyes with specific prompts and nervous system attunement in  a trusted relationship.

• Narrative Therapy: Encourages clients to reframe their traumatic experiences into a coherent story, helping them gain perspective and control over the narrative of their life.  We can regain control of our stories and replace negative thoughts and fears with an empowered and intentional understanding of ourselves and our resilience.

• Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy or (RO DBT):  Helps people who have developed rigid patterns of overcontrol to deal with the uncertainty of life after trauma.  Reducing the need for control helps us to rebuild our lives in meaningful ways and foster flexibility and deep connection that is core to cultivate joy and peace in our lives

• Somatic Therapies: Focuses on the mind-body connection, helping individuals release trauma stored in the body and promoting physical relaxation and emotional healing.

• Mindfulness and Grounding Techniques: Help individuals stay present and grounded, reducing the likelihood of dissociation or being overwhelmed by trauma memories.  Mindfulness helps us stay in the present moment and truly experience life in the here and now.

Benefits of Trauma-Informed Therapy:

• Reduction in Trauma Symptoms: Such as flashbacks, hypervigilance, emotional numbing, over control, emotional reactivity, and intrusive thoughts.

• Improved Emotional Regulation: Individuals can develop healthier ways of responding to intense emotions through attunement and self- care.

• Restoration of Trust: Healing from relational trauma and rebuilding trust in oneself and others and the World creating more ease and connection.

• Increased Sense of Control: Empowering clients to make conscious decisions about their life, reducing feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and shame.

• Greater Resilience: Strengthening an individual’s ability to manage stress and recover from setbacks.  Individuals can reconnect to their core selves and persevere.

Duration and Approach:

• Flexible and Adaptive: The pace of therapy is adjusted to the individual’s readiness and comfort level. Some individuals may need a longer period to process trauma, while others may progress more quickly once trust is established. At the beginning, we encourage weekly meetings to develop bonds and connection to enhance the success of the therapeutic experience.

• Client-Centered: The therapist remains flexible in their approach, adapting to the person’s unique needs, preferences, and experiences.

In summary, Trauma-Informed Individual Therapy is designed to recognize and honor the impact of trauma, providing a safe, supportive environment for healing. It empowers individuals to process their traumatic experiences at their own pace, while fostering resilience, self-compassion, and a renewed sense of agency. This approach is especially effective in helping individuals who have experienced abuse, neglect, violence, intense life transitions, or other forms of trauma to reclaim control over their lives and their healing journey. Reach out and get started today.