C-PTSD & Trauma Therapy

My primary specialization is with C-PTSD. Developmental trauma and complex trauma can be a result of emotional abuse and neglect, sexual abuse, and/or physical abuse and neglect. Or simply from being in a toxic relationship or dysfunctional family system.

Childhood trauma can manifest in a variety of ways in adulthood, ranging from somaticized symptoms like chronic pain to behavioral symptoms like anxiety, depression, self-loathing, paranoia, dissociative disorders, or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

The addictive process can show up in substance abuse, work, food, sex, pornography, social media, relationships, self-harm, eating disorders, and more. Recovering from developmental trauma and C-PTSD often goes hand-in-hand with learning to set boundaries and overcoming codependency. In the end, aren't these all strategies to feel safe?

Regardless of how the trauma affects your life currently, getting to the roots of the issue is where long-term relief can be achieved. This is why I do the long-term, deeper work with my clients once they have a toolbox of coping skills established.

A trauma specialist will address these symptoms in the context of past trauma, which offers a more comprehensive approach. Certified Clinical Trauma Professionals are less likely to mis-diagnose clients with Borderline Personality Disorder because we have a nuanced understanding of relational wounding. Having a safe relationship with a relational therapist can help heal that wound by providing a reparative experience to re-wire the nervous system.

Healing from trauma takes careful re-patterning of the nervous system's reactivity into fight/fight/freeze/fawn states. This work requires involving the body. As a somatic therapist, I draw from Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Polyvagal theory, Hakomi, and other trauma theory models to work with different types of trauma. These models all include a somatic component because trauma affects the nervous system, procedural memory, and neurobiology.

Have you heard that saying, "What fires together wires together?" Negative core beliefs don't respond to CBT alone because the Neural Network must be activated in order to be reprogrammed. Through mindful inner child work, I can help you integrate what you might already know cognitively down into the nervous system so it feels true.

The same skillset that works so powerfully to treat C-PTSD is the gold-standard modality to treat all types of trauma. Acute trauma includes single events such as an injury/accident, invasive medical procedure, rape or sexual assault. If you suffer from PTSD due to experience in the military or as a first responder, there is hope.