Trauma Recovery
You just aren’t feeling like yourself anymore…
Are nightmares waking you up almost every night? Are they nightmares, or are they memories?
Are your emotions out of control some days? Maybe there are times you don’t even know what “mood” you’re in.
Have you noticed anger running the show? For no particular reason? Do you think, “I’m not even mad, so why do I keep blowing up?”
Is it mixed with depression? Again… for no particular reason? You’ve probably said, “I have such a decent life, but I feel sad all the time now, and I don’t even know why.”
Did “the incident” really change who you are at your core?
Since it happened, there have been places you cannot go and things you will not do. You want to avoid all reminders of what happened.
But there are SO many triggers that you can’t possibly avoid them all. They pop up in movies, in conversations you overhear at the grocery store, and through the daily life of your friends and family members. You know they aren’t trying to set you off, but you can’t help but feel “some kind of way” when the topic comes up. It’s agony some days.
Even when you know you are safe, you don’t feel it at your core. You’re sitting on the couch watching reruns, but you feel like a train is barreling toward you. You want to relax, but there’s a constant tension in your neck, shoulders, and back.
This is trauma, and it comes in many forms.
It can be one event (like a car accident), multiple events (like repeated incidents within a relationship), or a lifetime of events (like what you might have gone through if you had an emotionally abusive parent).
Trauma can be insidious. It can be sneaky. We all thought the way we grew up was how everyone grew up. Few of us recognized things like neglect or emotional immaturity in our parents as children. Further, many of us were told that these things were our faults – that we were the cause of the pain in our families.
Trauma is in the eye of the beholder. Two people can experience the same event, and one comes away fine while the other suffers long-reaching negative consequences.
Nobody else gets to define what trauma means for you. Nobody gets to dictate how your experiences have shaped you into who you are.
But someone can help you process that trauma so that you can live well despite the pain of the past.
You can heal and feel comfortable in your skin again.
Black Lotus Counseling is here to help you dismantle the effects of trauma on your life so that you can free yourself of that negative self-image following you.
I utilize several different, integrated approaches to therapy, focusing primarily on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Internal Family Systems (IFS), that will help customize your therapy experience to best address the specific traumas you bring in.
EMDR is an approach that allows us to…
- Desensitize the memories surrounding traumatic events
- Process the memories
- Store the memories differently in the brain so that they are less likely to cause arousal in your system, leading to the feelings that have brought you to therapy
IFS therapy allows us to tap into your subconscious and heal the parts of you that need healing while nourishing the parts of you that experience safety and capacity for joy.
I’ll help you heal on a subconscious level, and together you and I will sculpt a brighter, more joyful experience of the future.
You’ll develop skillsets by using assignments between sessions that will bring you back to mindful experiences of what is missing most from your life. We will work to build on your strengths while we simultaneously process the painful experiences of the past.
Are you ready for real change?
You’ve tried talk therapies in the past, but there were no long-lasting changes. It’s time to try something different.
If you are ready to begin your healing journey, I’m here for you.
Call or text today to set up a free consultation: (484) 599-2640.