Do I need therapy for childhood trauma?
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Was your childhood filled with difficult experiences of loss, pain, or scarcity?
If so, you may be an “adult survivor of childhood trauma”. Much like throwing a stone into a pond, painful childhood experiences can continue to ripple and affect you well into adulthood. |
This is not because you are weak, bad, ruined, or broken. Rather, your thoughts and feelings continue impacting you because you are having a completely appropriate response to an intensely painful experience.
Some of the most common types of childhood trauma include:
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Briere and Elliot, childhood trauma researchers, outline the following long-term effects of childhood trauma:
The CDC also stresses how adverse childhood experiences can reach beyond your mental and emotional health.
They also impact your physical health and wellness by increasing your risk for chronic diseases, smoking, alcoholism, suicidality, poor academic achievement, performance at work, and financial difficulties.
They also impact your physical health and wellness by increasing your risk for chronic diseases, smoking, alcoholism, suicidality, poor academic achievement, performance at work, and financial difficulties.
If you were impacted by any of these experiences,
my therapy services for adult survivors of childhood trauma can help.
You can learn a new way to respond to
your painful thoughts, memories, emotions and traumatic experiences;
you can live a more fulfilling life.
I understand how difficult it can be to reach out;
please know I welcome hearing from you.
Take a moment and consider why your recovery matters to you.
When you're ready, please contact me however you are most comfortable.
Please continue reading to learn how therapy helps adult survivors of childhood trauma
and to read about my trauma therapy services.
and to read about my trauma therapy services.
How does therapy help survivors of childhood trauma?
Survivors of childhood trauma were forced to learn to adapt. Often, this included your body and mind shifting into self-preservation mode known as the “fight-or-flight” response.
When threatened, these survival strategies tend to take over. We may become aggressive, fight back, and attack the threat, or we can try to create distance, run away, and avoid the threat altogether. If the threat is too powerful, and we know we can do neither of those options, sometime our bodies shut down, become floppy, and out minds check-out.
Although these survival tactics are good at keeping us safe in the moment,unresolved childhood trauma often creates long-term consequences and can put our entire well-being under significant strain.You are likely on a perpetual “high alert” keeping a watchful eye for threats.
And if we’re always at-the-ready to fight or flee, how can we truly engage life, embrace the here-and-now, or feel safe in a relationships?
When threatened, these survival strategies tend to take over. We may become aggressive, fight back, and attack the threat, or we can try to create distance, run away, and avoid the threat altogether. If the threat is too powerful, and we know we can do neither of those options, sometime our bodies shut down, become floppy, and out minds check-out.
Although these survival tactics are good at keeping us safe in the moment,unresolved childhood trauma often creates long-term consequences and can put our entire well-being under significant strain.You are likely on a perpetual “high alert” keeping a watchful eye for threats.
And if we’re always at-the-ready to fight or flee, how can we truly engage life, embrace the here-and-now, or feel safe in a relationships?
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The thing is, as an adult, you may no longer need to be in self-preservation mode. Instead, you likely need to be supported in learning new ways to feel safe and to respond to your painful memories.
Despite your traumatic past, your brain likely has the same “neuroplasticity” as anyone else. "Neuroplasticity" refers to your brain's ability to continue to change and rewire itself. Your brain can learn new ways to respond, so this means you can take steps now to improve your future outcomes and learn how to respond to your painful past in ways that are more helpful to you. |
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There are many effective models for working with trauma. Ingredients for success include:
The therapeutic relationship is often considered the most essential ingredient for effective trauma therapy; maximizing that relationship is among my greatest priorities as a trauma therapist.
To learn more about my approach to working with adult survivors of childhood trauma, please read below.
- learning skills for staying grounded in the here-and-now
- working with your painful memories
- working with your painful thoughts around the abuse
- a strong therapeutic relationship.
The therapeutic relationship is often considered the most essential ingredient for effective trauma therapy; maximizing that relationship is among my greatest priorities as a trauma therapist.
To learn more about my approach to working with adult survivors of childhood trauma, please read below.
How I help adult survivors of childhood trauma
I developed my therapeutic approach to working with adult survivors of childhood trauma by drawing on my extensive training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and my time in Clinical Residency working under the direction of Kathy Steele, MN, CS, a trauma therapist and expert in Dissociatve Identity Disorder. Each year, I complete additional training in trauma therapy to ensure my skills are diverse and current.
Unlike other trauma therapy you may have tried, the aim of my trauma therapy services isn't for you to learn how to control your level of distress while we process your traumatic memories.
Instead, our work will help you engage in life and act effectively (however you define that) even in the presence of distressing memories. Our work together will:
I provide these trauma therapy services for adults throughout Chicago’s Northwest Suburbs. My services are held in the safety of my office in Barrington, Illinois. There is on-site parking and a lobby that is decorated to provide you with a comfortable area to prepare for our sessions. You can see pictures of my office by exploring the What to Expect page.
If you're an adult impacted by childhood trauma, and you are ready to reclaim your life, I encourage you to reach out and see how I may help.
Unlike other trauma therapy you may have tried, the aim of my trauma therapy services isn't for you to learn how to control your level of distress while we process your traumatic memories.
Instead, our work will help you engage in life and act effectively (however you define that) even in the presence of distressing memories. Our work together will:
- empower you with choices over how you respond to your traumatic past;
- teach you mindfulness skills to help you recognize when you are getting caught up in your thoughts, avoiding your feelings, or losing contact with the present moment;
- enable you to respond differently to your thoughts, allow your feelings, and stay connected to the present moment so that YOU (not your thoughts and feelings) have control over your actions;
- re-process your traumatic memories (if needed) with these mindfulness and grounding skills in-place ;
- increase you awareness of what matters to you and what you want to be about, so that you can continue to rely on those values as your “guides” well after you’ve completed therapy as you continue to engage with the world in new and different ways.
I provide these trauma therapy services for adults throughout Chicago’s Northwest Suburbs. My services are held in the safety of my office in Barrington, Illinois. There is on-site parking and a lobby that is decorated to provide you with a comfortable area to prepare for our sessions. You can see pictures of my office by exploring the What to Expect page.
If you're an adult impacted by childhood trauma, and you are ready to reclaim your life, I encourage you to reach out and see how I may help.