Things are going well, but there is a pervasive feeling of never being able to do enough or do it right. It’s inside. You’ve tried talk therapy, but it is still there. The effects of trauma stay with us for years unless we can get therapy specific designed to treat it. The good news is there are lots of ways to treat it.
The impact or symptoms of trauma can manifest in many different ways. Once a traumatic event is over, people often blame themselves for not being able to move on, for being blocked, or for not being able to master things in their lives that they think should be easy. People with trauma have an extra layer of difficulty that others do not. Often this difficulty is manifested as anxiety, overreacting to situations, procrastination, lack of energy, a sense of defeatism or a somatization in the development of physical symptoms. If these symptoms are holding you back or keeping you from enjoying your life, let us help you.
Symptoms of Trauma:
- Anxiety, hypervigilance, overreacting
- Overwhelm, dissociation, numbness
- Procrastination or underreacting
- A sense of defeatism “What’s the use?”
- Addictions to substances or behaviors, such as spending, eating or relationships
- Somatization in the development of unexplained physical symptoms
You Can Move Through Trauma
You can move past traumas big or small. You can experience post-traumatic growth.
You may have tried to figure it out on your own, read books, gone to workshops and even been in therapy. The question might be “What haven’t I tried?”
People grappling with the effects of trauma may experience life as more emotionally difficult. They may feel complicated inside, fragmented, or feel like everyone else has “it” figured out. You want more clarity, flow, flexibility and to recalibrate your life, stop self-sabotage and be able to come from self-compassion. When trauma or PTSD is in the way, these can be difficult to achieve.
Trauma Lives in the Right Side of Your Brain
Did you know that trauma “lives” in the right side of your brain which has no sense of time? Therefore you may be find yourself repeating unhealthy behaviors or ways of thinking because your right brain is still experiencing trauma even if it happened many years ago.
At the Trauma Counseling Center of Los Angeles (TCCLA), we offer therapy specifically designed for what you need. Your choices include: Somatic therapy, EMDR, Brainspotting, Inner Child work, IFS or just sitting down to talk.
Release Trauma: Get Back to the Present
If the past or a recent incident is getting in your way, you most likely need tools to free you from the past and help you get back to the present where you have choices. It is helpful to have skills connect you to your body and mind with effective tools so you can release trauma when it appears. Let’s see if we can work together to reduce or eliminate the feelings and sensations that are in your way. Let’s help you create a new story and a new experience.
Our team is specifically trained in treating trauma and anxiety. They are compassionate and motivated to help you overcome traumas of all kinds. Let us know how we can help.
What You Can Expect in Trauma Therapy
Talk therapy and trauma therapy are very similar. They both begin with talking, listening and attunement. Trauma therapy, however, at a certain point will be about targeting the material that is upsetting or the way of our enjoyment. As therapists, we look for an “in.“ What this might sound like in therapy is: Would you like to work with that? Or, Would you like to go a little deeper with that? Or, Is this something that would be good for us to target? It is your choice. Sometimes people say “Yes, let’s work with this.” Other times they may say “No, I don’t want to, I’d rather just talk today.”
Here’s the hard part. As a client, sometimes our consciousness or our mind, having helped us survive, gets in the way. A part of our self may not want us to get better even though that doesn’t make rational sense. Sometimes there are parts of us that know giving up a wound or a way of thinking will cause us to change. This can be scary.
Going to therapy of any kind takes a great deal of strength, willingness, commitment and surrender. This is not to say it can’t be enjoyable. A good therapist is able to take us towards our material and then away from it so we can breathe, and then gently brings us back to the material. In fact, sometimes our own systems do this naturally. We talk about something intense and then we switch subjects and then later come back. This is one of the ways we unwind trauma skillfully.
Therapy is a collaborative experience. We, as therapists can only work with you with what you bring into the room. If you don’t want to talk, then we can be still with you. If you want to try some of the additional modalities we offer that are designed for trauma or anxiety, we are excited to share what we have found has worked for many people. We want you to have the best possible therapy.
We will seek feedback from you. We might ask, “How is this going for you? Is there anything I could be doing more, better or different for you? How was our last session?” To the best of our ability we will make any adjustments we can. Also, if we together determine our approach is not a good fit, then we will give you names of referrals.
If you would like more information or you would like to talk, please call 310-720-8200 or message us through the Contact tab.
