Trauma Therapy
Have You Had A Traumatic
Experience That's Hard To
Move On From?
Have you gone through a significantly distressing experience at some point in your life?
If you are in the perinatal period, did your pregnancy or birthing process involve an experience you might describe as traumatic?
Or are you dealing with flashbacks and intrusive thoughts from an experience long ago, like abuse from childhood, that still impacts you today?
Trauma can prevent you from living your life as you would like to due to complex symptoms, and you probably wonder if therapy can help free you from this burden.
Signs And Symptoms Of Trauma
Trauma can cause symptoms like hypervigilance, flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts about the distressing events. The emotional signs can involve anxiety, depression, feelings of detachment, or an overwhelming sense of guilt or failure. You might have sleep disturbances or fatigue that rob you of time and energy.
Maybe you experienced pregnancy loss and grief on your reproductive journey. Maybe your experience with assistive reproductive technology (ex. IUI, IVF) feels traumatic from the chronic medical appointments, medications, and overwhelm.
You also might have a heightened fear for your baby’s safety or have difficulty connecting and feeling attached to your baby. Or perhaps certain experiences you never knew would be troubling from your own childhood have created distress in your life today, leaving you wondering if trauma therapy can break this pattern of fearfulness and worry.
Trauma symptoms can impair your overall quality of life, whether through strain on your relationships, a reduction of self-efficacy and self-worth, or other effects. Therapy can help you unravel the root cause of your trauma symptoms with evidence-based treatment to reduce your distress.
Have any questions? Send us a message!
Trauma Surrounding Pregnancy And Childbirth Is Common
Globally, nearly 70 percent of people will experience trauma in their lifetime. (1) Furthermore, nearly 45 percent of women screened about their pregnancy described the birthing process as traumatic. (2)
Sometimes, the people in our lives or the messaging through the media can make us feel worse. Other peoples’ ideals surrounding motherhood can create pressure to have a "perfect" pregnancy or birth, which can increase feelings of inadequacy for women who have experienced trauma, but counseling can help process this.
Other societal challenges—like a lack of paid parental leave or affordable childcare—can add financial and emotional stress to the already challenging burden of processing trauma and healing. The existing stigma around mental health care in some communities and cultures can prevent people from seeking help, so they struggle with trauma symptoms on their own and even potentially develop unhealthy coping mechanisms.
It Can Be Hard For New Moms To Take The Time For Self-Care, Let Alone Pursue Therapy
It can be very hard to process trauma on our own, and even with the support of friends or family, moving on can be difficult. For new moms, due to the overwhelming demands of pregnancy and postpartum, they may have little time or energy left for self-care or even taking a moment to check in with themselves.
Trauma reactions can be incredibly intrusive for someone with significant trauma or PTSD, and to overcome these symptoms entirely on their own without counseling is challenging. Therapy can help you process what you’ve been through with evidence-based treatments proven to help people with trauma symptoms regain control of their lives.
Trauma Therapy Can Help You Feel Free From Emotional Pain
At Bluestone Counseling Group we are here to listen to your story and experiences, providing a safe space for you to express yourself freely, without judgment. We will begin with learning more about you and identify your concerns that are the most distressing, including past traumas, current stressors, and triggers.
At Bluestone Counseling Group we are here to listen to your story and experiences, providing a safe space for you to express yourself freely, without judgment. We will begin with learning more about you and identify your concerns that are the most distressing, including past traumas, current stressors, and triggers.
Your therapist will explore your beliefs, potentially unresolved emotions, or relational challenges you may face due to trauma or PTSD. For women in the perinatal period, this may include birth trauma, pregnancy loss, or feelings of inadequacy linked to earlier life experiences that you can discuss in therapy.
With this understanding, your therapist will develop a treatment method that matches your symptoms, your unique circumstances, and your goals. We utilize EMDR, Narrative, and Mindfulness therapy for trauma in a safe and inclusive environment.
EMDR For Trauma Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a first-line treatment for trauma and PTSD with a specific protocol and process. Once you and your therapist identify key moments of distress, the targeted work often involves reshaping negative thoughts you hold about yourself like “I am not enough” or "I am inadequate."
EMDR works so well because it helps to unstick things from our minds. It works with bilateral stimulation in the form of guided eye movements, tapping on your shoulders, or the use of sounds to stimulate both sides of your brain.
In session, you are guided to think of your distressing or disturbing memories or those negative thoughts and reprocess them in an “adaptive” way, allowing you to shift your mindset in a more positive and less distressing manner. It promotes healing, builds resilience, and fosters a sense of calm, helping you move forward with confidence.
Narrative Therapy And Mindfulness Techniques for Trauma
In therapy, you could expect to learn a variety of trauma-informed mindfulness techniques like deep breathing, body scans, safe and calm space exercises, present moment awareness, and grounding exercises. These skills can become resources for the regulation of your nervous system in times of emotional distress.
We also incorporate Narrative work for trauma therapy, which uses storytelling to help you process and heal from trauma, particularly PTSD. You would create a chronological narrative of life events, sometimes starting from childhood, and integrate trauma experiences, which can foster a sense of meaning and control in the counseling process.
With help and support, you can reduce your high levels of distress and other symptoms of trauma. You can start believing positive things about yourself and your future despite what may have happened to you, moving forward with optimism and hope.
You Might Still Have Questions Or Concerns About Trauma Therapy…
I am afraid to relive my experiences in therapy.
Trauma often involves memories of an event that was deeply upsetting or even threatening and reliving that in therapy can be a daunting thought. We make it a point to create a safe and supportive environment to explore your experiences, providing you with skills and tools to help you process your memories. While it might feel safer to avoid thinking about the things that scare you, the evidence points to addressing trauma with a specialist as the means of processing and alleviating it. (3)
How can I transition back into my day after my session?
Your counselor will make sure you are in a safe space to process your trauma experiences and memories. They’ll teach you techniques to regulate your emotions and nervous systems so you feel like you can resume the rest of your day. While this skill does take time, consider how long you have gone without healthy coping skills or regulation techniques and how much time you have already lost to your symptoms.
Do I really have trauma?
Trauma can bring about both physical and mental symptoms. Thinking about and reliving a painful experience can bring about feelings of low self-esteem and overall negativity. If you have gone through something that has brought about these feelings and symptoms like hypervigilance or anxiety, you have likely gone through trauma. Once you realize this you have a choice to continue living like this or to try counseling and treatment to help you understand what you’ve been through, process your trauma, and learn a healthy set of coping skills.
1.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10643851/#:~:text=In%20addition%20to%20personal%20challenges,et%20al.%2C%202020)
2.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0266613821002722?via%3Dihub
3.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6224348/#:~:text=In%20addition%20to%20the%20RCTs,et%20al.%2C%202013)
Reach Out To Learn How Trauma Therapy Can Help
At Bluestone Counseling Group, you can heal from painful experiences in the past so you can move on with more optimism and hope for the future. Reach out to set up a free, 15-minute consultation with one of our therapists. Call 202-505-1454 or connect through our contact page to get started.
