Whether you call it trauma or something else, sometimes the worst events of our life take up more space in our life than we want them to. When you’ve been through something traumatic, it can shake up your sense of self, the way you view other people or relationships, and your general sense of safety or stability in the world. Trauma-focused therapy can’t erase what happened, but it helps us process the experience(s), the impact it’s had, and the meanings we associate with it. It can reduce the intrusive ways it can pop into our lives (e.g., thoughts, memories, nightmares, feelings), the urge to avoid reminders of what happened, common feelings of fear, shame, anger, sadness, suspicion, and unease, and calm our nervous system to reduce the levels of irritability and anxiety, and feeling like we need to be alert and on guard.

In trauma-focused work, I help patients decide if Cognitive Processing Therapy or Prolonged Exposure Therapy (click the links to watch short videos about these treatments) is a better fit for their goals. These are two of the gold standard treatments for trauma-related difficulties and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as recommended by the National Center for PTSD.

In addition to PTSD, trauma is associated with a range of disorders and mental health struggles, including anxiety, mood, body image, self esteem, sleep, and interpersonal and parenting concerns. In working with these concerns I use a trauma-informed approach to CBT.