Trauma-Informed Therapy

The therapists at Crossroads Counseling are trauma-informed. What this means is that each therapist has received extensive training on how trauma impacts the brain, body, and the nervous system. Our therapists utilize evidence based trauma therapy models such as EMDR, EFT, and IFS to help our clients heal from traumatic experiences and events.

A sense of aloneness is often part of trauma. Peter Levine, trauma researcher, therapist, and author, emphasizes the importance of connection in the healing process. We do not heal in isolation. This is especially true when the trauma is relational in nature. We need others, especially trained therapists, to help us reprocess and integrate traumatic experiences.

During trauma-informed therapy your therapist will help you understand the impact trauma has on your body, emotions, thoughts, perceptions, and relationships. Our therapists prioritize emotional and physical safety, grounding techniques, and the development of healthy coping skills and strategies. The ultimate goal in trauma-informed therapy is to undo aloneness, alleviate suffering, and to integrate trauma so that it becomes part of your story and not something that controls you.

Trauma-informed therapy is helpful for individuals struggling with past or current traumatic experiences. The clinical definition of trauma is an emotional, physical, or physiological response to an event or circumstance which was experienced as distressing, frightening, or even life-threatening. Additionally, there is often a component of helplessness and powerlessness in traumatic experiences.

It is important to understand how there are many different types of trauma such as betrayal trauma, developmental trauma, and secondary trauma to name a few. Perhaps two of the more well known types of trauma are acute and chronic. Acute trauma often occurs from a single event such as a car accident. The onset of acute trauma occurs shortly after the event. Chronic trauma is repeated or prolonged exposure to trauma such as domestic violence or childhood abuse.

It is important to understand a person can have trauma without being diagnosed with PTSD. PTSD is a formal psychiatric condition characterized by a set of symptoms. You do not have to be diagnosed with PTSD to have trauma and to benefit from trauma-informed therapy. Our therapists work with clients who have been diagnosed with PTSD and with clients who have trauma but do not meet the criteria for diagnosis or who may not yet have been diagnosed.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where bad things happen. It is estimated that 70% of people around the world will experience a potentially traumatic event in their lifetime. In the US, it is estimated that 6 out of every 100 people will meet the criteria for PTSD. Veterans, first-responders, and others in similar professions are even more likely to experience traumatic events and/or be diagnosed with PTSD.

Research shows that the relationship you have with your therapist is one of the primary indicators of a successful outcome in therapy. Our therapists are compassionate and trauma-informed therapists. They are trained in evidenced-based models such as EMDR, EFT, and IFS for the treatment of trauma and PTSD. You are not alone. There is hope. There is healing and freedom from trauma.

Trauma-informed therapy focuses on addressing the symptoms and behaviors of trauma. Our trauma-informed therapists on building therapeutic rapport and safety in the therapeutic relationship. This is an important component of any therapy, but is perhaps more crucial in trauma counseling. Part of therapeutic rapport is working collaboratively with your trauma therapist. This means that we treat our clients as equal partners. Checking in regularly with our clients to assess how they are doing in therapy and to ensure we are meeting our client’s needs is one of the ways we partner with our clients.

Our trauma-informed therapy focuses on the Window of Tolerance helping clients to learn how to self-regulate and co-regulate overwhelming experiences. You will learn how to slow down and notice what is happening inside of you. Your therapist will help you identify painful thoughts, emotions, memories, and body sensations that are rooted in trauma. Instead of trying to fight or eliminate these experiences, you will learn how to regulate your emotions, reprocess, and ultimately move towards integration which changes how you relate to your trauma, yourself, and others.

Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, demonstrated how unprocessed and unresolved trauma negatively impacts our physical bodies. Our therapists utilize body-based interventions and somatic based therapies in the treatment of trauma which help clients increase awareness of their bodies, reduce traumatic sensations, and move towards approaching life and relationships with hope and choice.

EFT and IFS focus on transforming trauma through healing core traumatic experiences that have shaped a client’s view of self and others. Our therapists will help you heal the parts of self that are seen as unworthy, broken, defective or unloveable through experiential interventions. Experiential therapy goes beyond talk therapy and includes therapeutic techniques such as empty chair, psychodrama interventions, role playing, working with parts, and re-parenting the inner-child.

At Crossroads, your therapist will meet you with compassion, care, and with expertise in trauma-informed approaches such as EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Emotionally Focused Therapy, attachment-based therapy, and other interventions based on your needs and goals.