Entering therapy when you’ve experienced trauma may feel daunting—you’re probably already overwhelmed with dealing with life as it is and replaying your past. When I hear from prospective clients, the biggest fear about trauma therapy is that they’ll be asked to retell their story, break down, and face experiences they aren’t ready to handle yet. Trauma therapy will not re-traumatize you. Instead, we will work to develop the skills and tools you need to feel safe, grounded, and whole.
If you’re ready to seek therapy for PTSD or trauma but are nervous about the unknown, here’s what you can expect from trauma therapy—and how it can help you heal.
Trauma Therapy Is Grounded in Safety
We know trauma feels scary and unsafe. Because of that, we won’t ask you to face anything you don’t feel ready for. Before we work on your trauma narrative or painful memories, we will work diligently to establish a sense of safety with you.
During trauma, your ability to feel safe, in control, and grounded was threatened. Trauma therapy aims to help you re-establish that connection. To do this, we focus on:
Developing trust in our therapeutic relationship. Healing from trauma can only happen when you trust the person asking you to be vulnerable. That’s why developing a trusting relationship with your therapist is our number one goal! We will take as much time as you need to earn your trust.
Creating consistent structure in sessions. When you experience trauma, your world becomes chaotic. When you heal from trauma, you can move toward a place of calm and predictability. Having consistent structure in each session allows you to know what to expect which can help you feel less uncertain.
Teaching you skills to cope with unwanted emotions and triggers. One of our goals is to equip you with effective tools to help you manage overwhelming feelings or triggers, so they don’t manage you.
Learning about your nervous system. During trauma, your nervous system can become overwhelmed and remain stuck in fight-or-flight mode. Understanding nervous system language can help you identify when you’re activated and implement coping skills to calm yourself.
Trauma therapy isn’t about forcing you to talk about your trauma history before you’re ready. You will never be pushed to do something that doesn’t feel safe to you. Instead, trauma therapy is about learning how to feel safe in your body again.
Types of Trauma Therapy
There are many types of trauma therapy that will work for you. There is no cookie-cutter approach to healing. Some clients need more gentle therapy. Others want to dig in head-first. We honor both approaches here at Odyssey Counseling.
Here are some examples of evidence-based trauma therapies you may encounter during your time with us:
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Through CPT, you will learn how trauma has affected the way that you think about yourself, other people, and the world around you. You may believe thoughts like, “It was my fault,” “I’m damaged,” “Bad things always happen to me,” or “I’ll never be safe again.” These unhelpful and often false beliefs can keep you stuck in shame, fear, and self-blame.
CPT will guide you to discover those beliefs, learn where they came from, and how to change your thinking. You’ll learn how to reframe your trauma through written exercises and session discussions. Instead of believing that you are damaged, you’ll learn how to think of the trauma as an experience that changed your thinking, but you can change your thinking back!
For instance, if you’ve been abused, you may think to yourself that you “are unworthy of love.” Through CPT, we can help you realize this belief isn’t true and shift how you relate to your trauma.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE)
Prolonged Exposure Therapy helps people confront their trauma through gradual exposure to their trauma memories. PE Therapy is a proven cognitive-behavioral treatment that has been extensively researched.
During PE therapy, you will learn how to face things you’ve been avoiding since your trauma. Avoidance is common with PTSD, and PTSD tries to convince you that the things you’re avoiding are dangerous. Through gradual exposure, you learn that the situations and memories you’ve been avoiding are no longer dangerous.
While PE therapy can be triggering at first, you will never begin exposure work until you’re ready. The pace of the exposure is completely client-controlled.
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)
If you don’t feel comfortable telling me every detail about what you’ve been through, that’s okay! ART is a brief therapy that uses eye movements to help your brain process trauma without having to talk about your story.
What makes ART different is that you don’t have to revisit every detail of your story. You’ll learn how to use ART to decrease the intensity of your memory of your trauma so that it no longer controls your life.
Is Trauma Therapy Going to Make Me Relive My Past?
Remember earlier when we said trauma therapy is grounded in safety? One of the benefits of trauma therapy is that you get to set the pace.
Some sessions will be heavier than others, that’s okay! You may have a session where you learn coping skills or practice emotional regulation, then the next session you dive deep into your trauma. Both of these sessions are needed, and they are equally valid.
There is no correct way to heal from trauma. Some days you’ll want to dig deep into your painful memories, and others you’ll want to leave those memories on the shelf. Trust yourself, your process, and allow the healing to happen at whatever pace feels right for you.
Healing from Trauma Doesn’t Mean You’ll Forget What Happened
“Won’t trauma therapy make me forget what happened?” This is a common question that I usually get answered with “of course not!” But the truth is, healing from trauma can help you forget some of the painful memories you’ve experienced.
When you start healing from trauma you experienced, you’ll learn how to carry your story without allowing it to constantly weigh you down. Some things you may notice as you heal from trauma:
You sleep better at night: Once you know how to self-regulate your nervous system, you’ll find it easier to sleep at night.
You don’t get triggered as easily: The BEST part about healing from trauma is that things you used to allow trigger you no longer will. Major bonus points!
You feel more connected to yourself and others: Healing gives you the opportunity to feel safe in your body and with others again.
You no longer feel ashamed of what happened to you: Trauma can make you feel ashamed of what happened. As you heal from trauma, you will find yourself releasing this shame.
You feel safe: You know that cozy feeling when you’re comfortable enough with your surroundings that you can finally relax? As you heal from trauma, you will experience that feeling mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Healing from trauma won’t make you forget your story. It will allow you to learn how to carry your story without it controlling your life.
Odyssey Counseling Can Help You Heal from Trauma
Just because you experienced trauma doesn’t mean you have to wait the rest of your life feeling this way. Healing from trauma is possible—we specialize in trauma therapy here at Odyssey Counseling! Our therapists are trained in multiple evidence-based trauma therapies including CPT, PE Therapy, and ART. If you’re ready to heal from your trauma or talk to someone about treatment options, call today or visit us online to learn more.
Starting therapy can be intimidating, especially when you’ve experienced trauma. If you struggle with trauma, PTSD, or anxiety, you deserve to feel calm, grounded, and safe. At Odyssey Counseling, we provide therapeutic treatment that will allow you to find the coping skills and tools you need to move forward.
Are you ready to feel better? Contact us today at 505-315-7397 to learn more about our trauma therapy services or to get started with counseling. You deserve to heal from your trauma—and we can help you get there!
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