My Approach to Trauma
What is Trauma?
Trauma is an experience of overwhelm in the face of an intensely or extremely distressing event. Trauma causes inner and outer disconnection as it fragments ones beliefs or sense of self.
Symptoms following an event may point to its being traumatic. Intrusive thoughts of the event or re-experiencing it physically or in the imagination, nightmares, hyper-vigilance, negative mood or distortions in our beliefs can all be symptoms of having undergone a trauma.
Neurodivergence and Trauma
For highly sensitive people and neurodivergent people, a distressing event or one that causes overwhelm may be different than what is commonly labeled a trauma. Our baselines and capacities are different, our beliefs and values sacredly held, our approach to change and surprise may be cautious. The experience of trauma-based symptoms like hypervigilance, negative affect, and re-experiencing, while challenging for all people, can be felt more intensely, and be more disruptive to a neurodivergent person’s ability to function. These symptoms may also contribute to physical complaints such as pain, immune responses, or Gastrointestinal distress.
Image of a lush gorge bisected by a rushing river.
Trauma Recovery
Recovery from trauma involves the re-establishment of safety, the processing and integration of the event, a restoration of autonomy and reconnection with ones self and others.
I work with trauma from four angles, all aligning with evidence-based practice. One angle is going back to and reprocessing the event to that it can exist as a stable memory, rather than an intrusion. A second angle is restoring autonomy through mindfulness and small active steps. A third angle is supporting the body to resume (or strengthen) it’s natural process of emotional regulation through body-based exercises. The fourth angle is supporting engagement in the natural world, and nourishing human communities. Each angle can each be accessed in coordination, or in whatever order makes most sense to an individual.
These methods are some of the ways I help people heal from trauma:
Acceptance and Commitment therapy
Prolonged Exposure
Written Exposure therapy
parts work
I also use sensory-based mindfulness, dialectical behavior therapy, and somatic self-care to help folks restore their nervous system regulation.
Complex trauma
Complex trauma is the experience of prolonged or chronic stress or overwhelming intense events, often occurring within core relationships and happening early in life. Complex trauma disrupts the attachment system and beliefs about relationships. Because relationships are a source of both survival and traumatic stress, a person with complex trauma may feel disorganized and conflicted in their relationships. Symptoms of complex trauma can be triggered by many different relational moments, and could look like intense reactions, shutting down, fawning, and avoidance. A person may seek out people who remind them of harmful relationships in an attempt to achieve a new outcome with an attachment figure; but more often than not they end up replaying their trauma rather than healing, or destabilizing in some way. Complex trauma can disrupt how we seek support and how we take care of ourselves. Treating complex trauma often requires a relational approach in addition to the above methods. It is highly likely that the therapeutic relationship will trigger relational trauma, and it is important that in the therapy we work through these moments in a way that is therapeutic rather than a repetition of the trauma.
Healing from complex trauma is possible. This work requires patience and trust building. It may mean that we work through emotional developmental milestones that were missed, and this work takes time.