Difficult things happen to all of us and most of the time, we acknowledge it and recover, knowing we are fundamentally okay. We have skills to cope with the disruption and we use them. However, if the event is dramatic (or chronic), we experience it in a way that does not allow us to use these resources.  As a result, we use other methods that, while useful in the moment, don’t serve us in the long run. That may include repression of the memory, avoidance, substance abuse and social withdrawal. You may may be quick to anger. You may avoid intimacy in relationships both emotional and physical. You may also have symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Therapy offers various tools to confront and deal with the aftermath of trauma in our lives, whether it is recent or historical. For some, telling the stories in a safe place that challenges the negative ideas we have come to believe about our traumatized selves can relieve most of the effects. For others, storytelling isn’t enough and I can use other effective approaches such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) or other somatic interventions.