Trauma Therapy
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Trauma Therapy 〰️
Trauma Therapy: Evidence-Based Treatment for PTSD and Complex Trauma
I specialize in treating trauma, PTSD, and complex trauma using evidence-based approaches including Internal Family Systems (IFS), DBT, Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT), and Narrative Exposure Therapy. My work begins with helping you understand the science of trauma and its impact on the brain, body, and nervous system. This includes education about how trauma affects memory, emotional regulation, identity, and present-day functioning.
In the early stages of therapy, we focus on building a strong foundation of coping and regulation skills. You will learn practical behavioral and cognitive strategies to manage trauma symptoms, reduce overwhelm, and respond more effectively to triggers and reminders. At the same time, we gradually begin to approach your experiences at a pace that feels safe and manageable.
As therapy progresses, we work toward developing a coherent understanding of your trauma history. This involves gently exploring and organizing past experiences, identifying the core beliefs and meanings formed through those experiences, and helping the brain begin to reprocess trauma that has remained unintegrated. Through approaches like Narrative Exposure Therapy and parts work, we support the integration of implicit and explicit memory so your past no longer feels as present.
We also incorporate in vivo and imaginal exposure techniques to reduce avoidance and decrease the intensity of emotional and physiological responses to trauma reminders. Over time, this helps retrain the nervous system, reduce hyperarousal, and increase your ability to engage more fully in your life.
The goal of trauma therapy is not to erase what happened, but to help you feel more grounded, in control, and no longer defined by your past.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) for Trauma Healing
I use Internal Family Systems (IFS) to help you understand and heal the different “parts” of yourself that have developed in response to trauma. Rather than seeing symptoms like anxiety, self-criticism, or emotional shutdown as problems, IFS helps us view them as protective parts that formed to help you cope.
In our work together, we gently explore these parts with curiosity and compassion, rather than judgment. This allows you to build a stronger connection to your core Self—the part of you that is calm, grounded, and capable of healing. As we understand the roles these parts have played, we can begin to unburden the pain they carry and shift patterns that no longer serve you.
This approach is especially effective for trauma because it does not require you to relive overwhelming experiences all at once. Instead, healing happens gradually, safely, and at your pace, helping you feel more integrated, regulated, and in control of your internal world.