Trauma and Abuse Recovery

Trauma Informed Therapy and ACE’s (Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery)

Individual Therapy Provides Healing

Traumatic experiences can result in lingering and intrusive symptoms that impact a person physically, emotionally, cognitively and relationally.

Active military deployment, criminal victimization, incidents of childhood abuse, and exploitation all carry the potential to interfere with one’s immediate and long term life.  Individual therapy is often a first step taken to mitigate the impact of a traumatic incident, but often survivors of early or long term trauma wait years before seeking help, hoping their symptoms will naturally subside.  Reclaiming one’s ability to feel safe and a developing a more whole and empowered self are some of the ways individual therapy can be helpful. 

Overcoming the effects of traumatic incidents and abuse is often best done in stages.  Having a safe and non-judgmental environment to process the effects of trauma is a necessary foundation for good recovery to take place.  Sorting through the impact of trauma with a skillful and compassionate professional can be life transforming.

Trauma Informed Couples Therapy

Often the echoes of trauma continue to flare up in close relationships; particularly in a committed or married relationship even when individual therapy has been successful.  For many who recover; the most devastating impact is how trauma disrupts one’s ability to  choose safe and healthy partners or to not “feel safe”  in healthy relationships.  It is natural to turn to a partner for reassurance when trauma is triggered, and yet the intensity of reactions and emotions elicits a relationship threat.

When something threatens the safety in a close relationship, the body and brain are mobilized to prepare for an oncoming threat.  Even inconsequential events may have power to dysregulate a couple when past trauma is evoked. Trauma can trigger intense emotions, uncomfortable physical sensations, and catastrophic thoughts and be pre-occupying.

Loved ones are shocked and confused when intense reactions are inadvertently activated and they struggle to know how to respond.  It’s distressing when seemingly benign interactions trigger highly escalated reactivity, intense fears, or a complete shutdown.

Janet works to help couples stuck in negative patterns that are colored and heightened by past trauma. Learning to hold onto each other while facing the echoes of trauma is curative and strengthens a couple’s bond.  The pacing of EFT therapy is attuned to each partners threshold of tolerance; to provide safety and security.  Strong and often buried painful emotions can be experienced in couples therapy and need to be processed in a way that is both helpful and productive, but not overwhelming.