Therapist Spotlight: How We Approach Trauma Therapy
It’s estimated that over 224 million adults have experienced at least one trauma. It’s prevalent, albeit horrifying. After trauma, your world can feel unsafe, and then anxiety makes your body feel unsafe too.
The good news? It’s treatable, and we specialize in helping you cope. Trauma therapy can help you make sense of your trauma history and feel more grounded in your life. When trauma happens, you need trauma-informed and competent therapy to support your recovery.
This month, we’ve been sharing blogs about trauma therapy and what that process is like. Today we are excited to share more about our therapists and their approaches to trauma healing.
Gabriela is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist at Woven.
She specializes in working with:
Complex PTSD or developmental trauma | Estrés post-traumático complejo o trauma del desarrollo
Healing from narcissistic abuse | Sanación del abuso narcisista
Body image issues/chronic illness due to trauma | Problemas con la imagen corporal/ Enfermedad crónica debido al trauma
Immigration trauma | Trauma por inmigración
Transgenerational trauma | Trauma transgeneracional
Couples Therapy | Terapia de pareja
Inner Child Work | Trabajo con el niño interior
When asked what healing from trauma looks like, Gabriela wrote that we can break down the therapeutic process and the healing journey into three phases.
These three phases are:
Establishing safety and stability: helping the client build dual attention, meaning they are able to go into a traumatic memory while experiencing themselves embodied. Helping the client be in the present moment by building somatic awareness.
Going into the discomfort in the body: going through the uncomfortable sensations in a regulated way. Helping the client surrender, bringing attention to the inner world in a way that doesn’t feel threatening. Empowering them in their choices, and helping them depend on, deepen and amplify their sensations by honoring the intelligence of their body.
Integration of the changes into the sense of self: new ways of engaging in the world. Moving with authenticity and freedom into the world.
Read more about Gabriela’s approach to trauma healing in this blog.
Helen is a psychological assistant here at Woven.
She specializes in working with:
Complex PTSD or developmental trauma
Religious Trauma
Racial trauma
Relational issues after experiencing trauma
Inner child work
When asked what healing from trauma looks like, Helen wrote:
“Like any complex trauma, healing from religious trauma is not linear. Because cults or fundamentalist religious communities tend to try to control your whole lifestyle and internal experiences, religious trauma encompasses so much: your relationships, thoughts, feelings, body, sexuality, and finances– just to name a few.
Of course, healing is a process, and there is absolutely no pressure to be perfect or completely “graduate” from the process of healing. Any baby step toward growth is worth celebrating! But it can be relieving to notice the specific ways that you HAVE made true progress.”
As you heal, you will notice changes in relationships, thoughts, feelings, body, sexuality, and finances. Read more about Helen’s approach to healing from religious trauma in this blog.
Lauryn is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at Woven.
She specializes in working with:
Couples struggling to connect or communicate
Mothers and birthing parents struggling with postpartum depression and anxiety
Complex trauma and PTSD
Teens with a trauma history
When asked what healing from trauma looks like, Lauryn wrote:
“Usually when clients begin trauma therapy, I tend to see them come in feeling overwhelmed, stuck, scared, sad, even numb. Clients share with me that relationships feel difficult, life feels like just too much, and every little thing seems to impact them in big ways. Trying to find peace, hope and joy feels nearly impossible. However, as time in therapy goes on, I see clients experience healing externally and internally.
Once my clients start to experience healing externally, I tend to see my clients feel regulated, empowered, and connected to others. I can tell that my clients are experiencing internal healing when they start to feel confident, safe and worthy. ”
Read more about Lauryn’s approach to trauma healing in this blog.
Ruth is a psychological assistant here at Woven.
She specializes in working with:
Complex PTSD and other complex trauma
Adult children of narcissistic or borderline parents
Substance use issues related to trauma
Perinatal trauma
Inner child work
When asked what healing from trauma looks like, Ruth wrote:
“Because complex trauma is relational, so is my therapeutic approach. That means that I value the relationship I create with you. I lean into your feelings, pain, and shame, and help you navigate your way toward self-compassion.
In this deep-diving journey, I have found these things to be irreplaceable:
Establishing a sense of reality and safety
Grief work
Getting to know your 4F Trauma Response
Reparenting
Connecting with self-compassion & quieting the critic”
Read more about Ruth’s approach to healing from trauma in this blog.
