A trauma informed approach means the therapist is adhering to a set of principles that increase sensitivity and understanding around traumatic issues. The therapist will work to increase emotional safety, recognize symptoms of trauma, and ensure they are using procedures that actively integrate the knowledge of trauma in order to respond in a way that avoids retraumatizing the client. A trauma informed therapist will also collaborate with the client to identify their goals in treatment, maintain trust, and empower them to take an active role in their healing process. The therapist will also make appropriate referrals as needed to ensure the client receives appropriate care. Finally, cultural and gender issues will be considered to address the needs of each client.

The three stages of trauma informed recovery:

1. Safety and Stability - First, we focus on regaining stability by understanding ones emotions and identifying healthy coping skills to express them in an effective way.

2. Remembrance and Mourning - In this stage, we work together to help you tell your story in order to process trauma and grieve the effects it has had on your life.

3. Integration and Reconnection - Once you find yourself in a place where you trauma no longer defines you, but is an integrated part of your life, we explore what is means to live life in the present and build your sense of self.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is an evidence-based approach that is successful in the treatment of trauma, PTSD, emotional difficulties and negative beliefs. Many people have had disturbing life experiences, and while the brain can naturally process, recover and heal, some of these experiences can become “trapped” and flood our nervous system resulting in negative feelings, memories, thoughts, or behaviors. EMDR assists the brain’s natural healing process in order to “digest” these trapped experiences. This means we decrease distress around the event and reprocess the experience to allow for new adaptive information, understanding and feeling. The experience will still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response from the original event is resolved. Once complete, people can move towards a healthy coping style with an increased sense of confidence.

For additional information on EMDR, click here.

For an overview on the 8 phases of EMDR, click here.

Somatic attachment therapy is a body based therapy that addresses the mind-body connection and believes that thoughts, emotions, and behavior all influence each other. It addresses attachment wounds by helping individuals feel safe in their body and develop healthy attachments with themselves and others.

Attachment wounds can occur as early as childhood, yet follow us into relationships through out our life. These can result in emotional, social, physical and psychological challenges like fear with boundary setting and physical tension when around people we feel are “unsafe.”

By combining both attachment and somatics, this approach helps to release stress and tension in the body through exercises such as breath work, visualization practices, meditation, mindfulness, body awareness, and grounding techniques.

A video on somatic attachment can be found here.

Dialectical behavioral therapy is a therapeutic approach that works within the lens of acceptance and change. To better understand what this means, it’s helpful to understand what a dialectic is. A dialectic is a synthesis or blending of opposites. This means that the therapist will use components of mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness skills to better help clients accept reality and validate emotions, while also working towards behavior change and increased effectiveness towards life’s challenges.

I work with a DBT informed approach. This means I bring a DBT approach into our individual sessions, as needed, to help you work towards your goals. DBT informed is an excellent form of treatment for clients who have graduated from a Comprehensive DBT program and want to continue working towards addressing life goals, relationship challenges, building self respect and creating a life worth living.

DBT informed therapy can also be helpful for those who:

• have difficulty with emotion regulation

• have difficulty with interpersonal relationships

• have difficulty with black and white or all or nothing thinking

• may have history of self harm or suicidal ideation yet have no recent life threatening urges and do not meet a high level of risk that requires Comprehensive DBT.

Clients that appear to be better suited for a Comprehensive DBT program will be given an appropriate referral