Trauma Therapy
Are You Feeling Weighed Down By Something Traumatic From Your Past?
Do you feel haunted by unwanted memories of what happened that are interrupting your daily life and happiness? Do you have intense physical sensations like your heart pounding or sweating, or intense emotions like fear, anger, and sadness, when you think about the event? Or maybe you feel completely numb when you think about it. You may be feeling irritable and on edge, even around the people you love, or wanting to isolate yourself because you feel so disconnected. Maybe you’ve been having trouble sleeping because of nightmares.
You might be feeling like a different person, maybe in ways that feel bad and shameful, and wondering how others will perceive your experience. In searching for explanations of why something so horrible happened, you might start blaming yourself and thinking about everything you should’ve done differently, wondering if that might’ve prevented the event from happening. Many trauma survivors find themselves becoming hypervigilent to cope with the sense that the world is a very dangerous place.
Trauma Can Start to Make Your World Feel Smaller And Smaller
If you're like many people living with trauma, your life becomes more restricted because you start to avoid anything associated with the event, as well as anything that can trigger unwanted emotions and memories about the event. Maybe you’ve stopped going to one of your favorite places or doing your usual routines like riding the subway because they no longer feel safe. NYC can be an especially hard place for trauma survivors, due to the excess of crowds, proximity to strangers, and necessity of public transportation, all of which can become overwhelming.
You might also be losing interest in your favorite activities or finding it hard to experience the same level of happiness that you’re used to. For survivors of trauma, dating, sex, and intimacy can become much more complex and difficult, which can lead to avoidance of these things altogether. With the support of a trauma therapist at Elevate CBT, you can work to reconnect with aspects of your life that have been taken away by the trauma, and get back to the version of yourself that you once knew. You can start to feel more present in your life at home, work, and in your relationships.
Most People Will Experience A Traumatic Event At Some Point In Their Lifetime
70% of adults in the U.S. experience some type of traumatic event at least once in their lifetime1. This might include things like sexual assault, childhood physical or emotional abuse, undergoing a traumatic medical event, a natural disaster, or a serious car accident. Many others experience what’s called vicarious trauma, which means finding out something really horrible and unexpected happened to someone you love. After traumatic events, many people go on to recover naturally as time passes, while others can get stuck in experiencing post-traumatic symptoms long-term, which is eventually what we refer to as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Anyone at any age can develop PTSD, despite the common misconception that it's something that only happens to combat veterans.The Desire To Avoid Is Natural, But Can Also Become Problematic
One of the things that differentiates the people who recover naturally vs. the people who get stuck is the degree of avoidance. By avoiding the thoughts and feelings associated with what happened, the trauma can become “unfinished business” that rears its head when you least want it to. The more you try to push it away, the more you may be bombarded with memories of what happened. It can start to feel as though the experience is haunting you and preventing you from moving forward in your life in the ways you want to.It makes perfect sense that people would want to avoid the distressing thoughts and feelings associated with something so horrible that happened. Society and people around us also might encourage this avoidance. And as much as our society has evolved, stigmatizing messages persist that continue to make survivors of trauma feel like they’re to blame and like it’s not worth speaking up. Loved ones and even professionals may sometimes send the message that “it’s time to move on” and that it’s “not good to keep thinking about it so much,” leaving those still struggling confused about what they’re doing wrong and attempting to push away unprocessed memories, which often only makes things worse.
Trauma Can Be An Isolating Experience, Making It Even Harder To Recover
Due to their own feelings of helplessness and vulnerability, people around you may not know what to say to you when you share about what happened, leaving you feeling isolated and maybe even judged in response to their silence. It can be really intimidating to face your traumatic memories on your own, and to find a way to do so that is productive and helps you move forward rather than just further amplifying your feelings of self-blame, mistrust in others, or helplessness. That’s where a trauma therapist comes in-- to help guide you through the processing in a way that is productive and helps you come out on the other side feeling better.
Questions? Contact Us Today
There Is Hope For Recovery With Trauma Therapy
At Elevate CBT, all our therapists are trained in trauma informed therapy, and are ready to work with you whether you have experienced a recent or past traumatic event, and regardless of whether or not you think you have a diagnosis of PTSD. We offer several types of therapy for trauma and PTSD, all rooted in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). These include Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE), and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), which are all research-backed therapies that have been demonstrated to help improve people’s trauma-related symptoms.
Trauma therapy starts with giving you an understanding of all the ways in which experiencing a traumatic event can affect your life, including how it affects your thought patterns and behavioral patterns. Your therapist will help you retell your experience in your own words and start to make sense of it, process your emotions about what happened to you, and gradually begin to face the memories and situations in your life that you’ve been avoiding since it happened. You’ll learn tangible strategies that will help you get unstuck in your relationships with others, your sense of self, and your ability to plan for the future. Trauma therapy will also help you regain your sense of safety and let go of self-blame. Along the way, your therapist will serve as a compassionate, supportive guide as you work through difficult thoughts and feelings.
Trauma Counseling Creates A Path Forward
The trauma therapists at Elevate CBT are passionate about helping you reclaim aspects of your life that the trauma has taken away from you or made less enjoyable. Our team has 20+ years of combined experience working with healthcare workers, survivors of sexual trauma, rescue and recovery workers, and children and families who have survived trauma, so you can trust that you’ll be in good hands. Instead of feeling stuck in the experience of the trauma like it happened just yesterday, you’ll be able to move on from the experience and live your life more fully.
Maybe You’re Curious about Trauma Specific Therapy, But Still Have Some Questions…
I’ve never talked about this with anyone-- it’s intimidating to think about telling a random stranger about the most horrible thing that’s ever happened to me.
It makes so much sense that this would be intimidating. At Elevate CBT, we know how hard it is to seek therapy for trauma. Because of that, our goal is to create a safe therapy space in which we take your lead with what pace feels comfortable in talking about difficult topics. Trauma counseling starts with a lot of orientation to the therapy and education about trauma, so we won’t dive in right away to the details of the trauma until you’re ready to do so. You are 100% in control of your therapy and will never be forced to do anything or talk about anything you’re not comfortable with.Doesn’t talking about it just make it worse? I’ve been told I should “just move on” and “leave it in the past.”
Talking about your trauma with a well-trained professional can be incredibly validating, and can help you move forward to live the life you want. If you’ve been trying for a while to “move on and leave it in the past” without much success, it may be worth having a consultation with one of our experienced therapists to see how trauma informed therapy might be helpful for what you’re dealing with. Trauma can affect your thoughts, emotions, self-esteem, and relationships in a deep way, and trying to act like this isn’t happening can often just prolong your suffering.
Out-of-network therapy is expensive, and I’m concerned I won’t be able to fit it into my busy schedule.
Many people are surprised to learn that Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive Processing Therapy are time-limited therapies, and that many clients can see a lot of progress in just 12 to 18 sessions. Investing in short-term, high-quality therapy with trauma therapists who are well-versed in how to help you can be a meaningful investment. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is not meant to be forever, and our goal is to leave you with skills and knowledge that you can continue to make use of long after therapy ends. While shorter term therapy is appealing to some, Elevate CBT offers flexibility to continue beyond time-limited trauma therapies for those who want a longer term therapy relationship or have more they want to address.
Taking Back Control Of Your Life After A Trauma Is Possible With Trauma Therapy
If you’re ready to take the first step in facing your trauma and living a life of more freedom and enjoyment, our therapists at Elevate CBT want to help. Please Contact Us to schedule your complimentary 15-minute consultation to learn more about our online and in-person trauma therapy services.1Kessler R. C., Aguilar-Gaxiola S., Alonso J., Benjet C., Bromet E. J., Cardoso G., … Koenen K. C. (2017). Trauma and PTSD in the WHO world mental health surveys. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 8(sup5), 1353383.