Reclaim your narrative, your joy, & your life.

Trauma Therapy in Columbus, Ohio

 

Lately, you just feel stuck.

You go through the motions everyday, but it doesn’t feel like you’re actually living. It’s like the only feelings you’re capable of having now are anxiety or numbness.

This has affected your…

  • Relationships, making you feel distant and detached

  • Ability to trust others and their intentions

  • Ability to trust yourself

  • Performance at work

  • Overall motivation to do anything above bare minimum

Maybe something happened in your past that you’ve never really been able to move on from. You might feel guilt or shame about what happened, and thinking about it can bring up difficult emotions. You wish you could “just get over it,” but the racing thoughts, flashbacks, and nightmares are making it feel impossible to move forward.

At this point, all you really want is to be able to function better in your daily life.

The unwanted thoughts that constantly pop up make you feel like you don’t have control over anything — not even your own mind. You have trouble sleeping at night and can’t seem to focus during the day. Often, you find yourself reacting in extreme ways to conflict or day-to-day inconveniences, and you wish you understood your feelings enough to get a handle on them.

 Learn to live in the present & overcome the past.

What you’ve been through doesn’t have to define you. In trauma therapy, you’ll be able to process the things that have happened to you, and get to a point where those memories don’t affect you nearly as much. You’ll start to notice the things in your life that trigger you, and realize how they’re connected to those past experiences.

I’ll provide you with tools to move through difficult feelings when they arise, and to connect better with the present. Then, you’ll gain agency over your reactions and behavior, and be able to change the trajectory of your future.

MY APPROACH AS A TRAUMA THERAPIST

 Resilience is within your reach.

I want to empower you to grab hold of it.

First of all, I want you to know that there’s no right or wrong way to feel about the trauma you’ve experienced. So, we’ll spend our first session normalizing how you’re feeling and talking about what has brought you to trauma therapy. I’ll ask a series of questions that will help me better understand your background and history, and then use that information to build a treatment plan that’s customized to you and your goals. My goal is that our sessions are a safe, comfortable space for you to process your thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment.

As we meet weekly, you’ll learn how trauma impacts your brain and body in ways you might not have realized. There are many tools and techniques I’ve learned over the years that can help with managing stress and regulating emotions. I am trained in EMDR, a technique that has helped a lot of people dealing with the effects of trauma find relief, and would be happy to explore that as an option with you. I’ll teach you how to use coping skills in your daily life and customize them to your needs.

Schedule A Free Consultation

You’ll gain more…

  • Compassion for yourself.

  • Tools to cope with strong emotions.

  • Trust in yourself & others.

  • Awareness of how trauma affects your brain & body.

  • Mindfulness & ability to stay present.

  • Control over your reactions.

  • Ability to function day-to-day & feel fulfilled.

& have less…

  • Feelings of being stuck in the past.

  • Shame & guilt.

  • Sleepless nights.

  • Unwanted thoughts that disrupt your day.

  • Loneliness and isolation.

  • Fear of being reminded of past events.

  • Numbness and detachment from others.

It’s time to enjoy your life again.

Schedule A Free Consultation

FAQs About Trauma Therapy

  • Trauma is the emotional and psychological impact resulting from distressing events that overwhelm a person's ability to cope. It often leads to a range of mental and emotional symptoms, which can be reduced or managed through trauma-informed therapy. Learn more.

  • Trauma can impact the brain's structure and functioning. Over time, it can lead to changes in areas that are responsible for processing emotions and regulating stress responses. This can cause overwhelming anxiety, a constant sense that you need to be aware of potential threats around you, and difficulty managing emotions overall. Learn more.

  • Always consult with your doctor regarding medication options to find out if it is a good fit for you. I always tell my clients to think of medication as a supplement. Medication can help with trauma symptoms and can help you manage the hard work in therapy, but medication is not a cure for the trauma you have experienced. Medication can be a supplement to help you work through the trauma in therapy. Learn more.

  • The duration of trauma's impact is different person-to-person. For some, with proper support, symptoms can improve within a few months. However, others might experience lingering effects for years, especially if they don’t seek treatment. Addressing it as early as possible with effective therapy can definitely shorten the duration and intensity of trauma's effect on your life. Learn more.

  • While I tailor each of my clients’ experiences and treatment options to their personal needs and goals, EMDR is a method I use frequently with people experiencing the effects of trauma. It helps lessen the intensity of emotions surrounding traumatic events and gives clients tools to use outside of sessions to manage overwhelming feelings. Learn more about EMDR here.

    I also offer somatic therapy as well to help release trauma from the body. Often times, somatic therapy and EMDR therapy combined can be very effective depending on the individual and their needs. Contact me to learn more.

  • The first step is to be able to recognize if there are experiences from your past or present that continue to disrupt your daily living. One question to ask would be “Did I experience something that was difficult for me and continues to show up in different areas of my life?” You may be experiencing emotional and psychological impacts in your daily living resulting from distressing events that overwhelm your ability to cope. If you have questions about what you have experienced, contact me and we can discuss together.

  • Yes, crying is a natural response to releasing trauma. Crying is a way of releasing pent-up stress and tension. Often, people are led to believe that crying is a sign of weakness or that it is not okay to cry. I always encourage my clients to listen to their bodies allowing it to do what it needs in order to heal from stress and trauma. Crying can release the stress hormones and allow the nervous system to calm down and activate the parasympathetic response, which often is referred to as the “rest and digest” state and can help to decreases physical and emotional pain. Learn more.

  • When your body is releasing trauma, you may notice physical sensations such as muscles relaxing and changes in breathing. You may notice temperature changes such as warmth throughout your body, feeling drained and fatigue and changes in energy. You may notice changes in mood from being activated and alert followed by feeling a sense of calm, although drained. These are common and temporary responses as your nervous system enters the parasympathetic state, letting go of or releasing stored tension and energy. Learn more.

  • Emotional trauma can look different for each individual. What is traumatic for one individual may not present the same for someone else. Emotional trauma happens when a person experiences something traumatic that causes them to feel that they do not have control over their emotions. Emotional trauma can happen because of many different experiences, including but not limited to a car accident, domestic violence, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, bullying, or prolonged childhood abuse. A person may notice ongoing triggers, flashbacks, negative beliefs about themselves, which, if unable to cope with their symptoms, can leave them feeling stuck and hopeless. Some examples of emotional trauma would be experiencing persistent fear or anxiety even when a person is safe, sadness, guilt, shame, self-blame, anger, irritability, numbness, detachment from others, unwanted thoughts, flashbacks, triggers, and/or hypervigilance. Learn more.

  • Traditional talk therapy focuses primarily on connecting and processing thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Trauma therapy focuses on specific symptoms from traumatic experiences. My approach to trauma therapy includes talk therapy but also focuses on incorporating specific techniques that creates a mind body connection so that an individual can feel safe in their body and regulate their nervous system. Learn more.

  • Emotional detachment is a way for the body and brain to protect itself and be able to cope. It involves someone subconsciously holding back emotional responses to protect themselves from uncomfortable or overwhelming emotions connected to traumatic memories. Someone may block off these emotions to protect themselves from distressing emotions and additional pain. Learn more.

  • Unhealed childhood trauma can present in several different ways. While some indicators can include PTSD, others can show up as anxiety or depression. This can lead to challenges managing emotions or experiencing mood swings, low self-esteem, relationship challenges such as trust issues and difficulties with boundaries, chronic pain as trauma is stored in the body and can cause physical pain at times, digestive issues, and difficulties with concentration and focus. Learn more.

  • While there are a few different frameworks, using the resilience-focused lens includes regulation, reflection, relationships, respite, and reasons. Learn more.