Lisa Seid LMFT
Dec 2, 20203 min read
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Have you experienced some type of painful event in your life- whether as a child or adult? Does this painful experience seem to continue to hold on to you no matter how much you want to let it go-almost like a weight that just can't be lifted-holding you back from living a life free of this past?
Trauma survivors can often struggle with:
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Difficulty Sleeping
Nightmares
Flashbacks
Feeling unsafe
Trust Issues
Anxiety
Anger
Low Self-esteem
Feeling Numb, Empty, or Disconnected
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Trauma is often associated with a loss of power and control in one's life. In our experience, as a result of adapting to overcome trauma, many people develop tremendous strength and survival skills or what we call-resilience. However, at some point, those same skills they found helpful to make it through at the time, can sometimes develop into unhealthy patterns later on.
As trauma therapists, we have worked with clients who have experienced a wide variety of trauma including physical, sexual assault, or emotional abuse as an adult and or childhood trauma. Sometimes these traumas have been perpetrated by people they know. Sometimes, they have been victims of crimes by someone they did not know. Yet, trauma does not have to be someone that did something to you. It could also be becoming aware of, witnessing, or experiencing a terrible accident, injury, or death. Additionally, military veterans and first responders/others in the helping field can find themselves experiencing Secondary or Vicarious trauma from the nature of their work.
There is no clear cut explanation in determining what has the potential to actually be traumatic to someone since we are all individuals and experience things in our own way. The symptoms of trauma, Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD), or Complex-Post Traumatic Stress (C-PTSD) an also vary greatly from anxiety and depression to isolation-even anger. Some are reactive responding with misplaced anger being labeled as "the angry person" not making the connection between this response and past trauma. This is why things like anger management may not always be effective as it is not addressing the underlying issue.
Because no one person or trauma is the same, we use a variety of evidence-based trauma therapy approached to help you heal trauma including complex and childhood trauma. Some of the models we use are:
EMDR Therapy
Attachment Theory
Mindfulness
Somatic Experiencing
Ego State Therapy
Internal Family Systems
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Trauma therapy, specifically evidenced based models, can be powerful in regards to addressing the root of the problem. This is why we have been trained and utilize these models in our work with clients. As trauma therapists, we have found greater hope and effectiveness in helping clients heal from their past to live productive and happier lives.