Trauma Therapy
Do you feel stuck in the past?
Something happened.
Maybe it was last week. Maybe it was last century.
Maybe it was a single event, or several events.
Maybe it’s big or maybe it’s small.
The point is: it hurt.
You know it hurt. That’s enough.
But it’s an invisible wound that one can see.
And it sticks with you.
You think about it a lot. You dream about it. You replay it in your mind.
It has negatively shaped who you are and how you think about yourself and your place in the world.
Maybe you feel guilty, like it’s your fault?
You feel like you just can’t “get over it”?
You think, “If that had never happened, everything would be different.”
Perhaps you spend so much energy avoiding reminders of the past, that you aren’t living in the present.
You feel like you floating through your life, but not truly engaged with it.
To cope, you numb out with food or alcohol or Instagram, but the next day, you’re still haunted by the past.
Maybe when you lie awake at night, you wonder if you are flawed.
If there’s something fundamentally wrong with you that makes it hard to cope while everyone else seems fine.
Perhaps sometimes you think:
If I can’t get relief from this, I don’t know what I’ll do.
This is not a life worth living.
Trauma can really mess with you.
Is “trauma” just a buzz word these days?
It seems like everyone—and their mother—is talking about trauma.
Isn’t trauma what happened to veterans who saw combat in wars?
Does it apply to car accidents?
Abuse that happened 20 years ago?
Witnessing these atrocities second-hand?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
And, yes.
Trauma comes from the Greek word for “wound.”
I believe that
“Have you experienced trauma?”
is the wrong question.
We get in our heads
and start comparing our internal experience
to other people’s external experience.
We doubt ourselves and think, Was it really “bad enough” to be called trauma?
A more helpful question may be,
“Have you experienced something that felt traumatic?”
Because I would argue:
if it felt traumatic, then it probably was.
So what is trauma anyway?
Trauma is any experience that overwhelms your nervous system’s ability to cope.
Think of it like: when you eat too many tortilla chips at your favorite Mexican restaurant. Your food arrives and you stuff yourself with enchiladas.
Then, you feel overfull and icky and uncomfortable.
In this case, you have overwhelmed your digestive system’s ability to cope.
It couldn’t keep up.
It struggled.
It didn’t feel good.
Trauma is like that.
Certain painful experiences occur that challenge our nervous system’s natural ability to emotionally regulate this much pain. Due to your nervous system’s overwhelm, it cannot cope in the ways it has before. The things that worked before don’t work. And time does not necessarily heal all wounds.
As a trauma-informed, licensed clinical social worker, I have been trained to pay close attention the pain of the human condition: to how it shows up for clients and what evidence-based methods promote healing.
There are many different methods to promote recovery from trauma. As an EMDR-certified clinician, I have found this treatment to be tremendously helpful for clients. EMDR is one of the most researched and successful trauma therapies that we have. However, there are various trauma approaches we can take.
Trauma therapy is all about trust. Trust between the client and the therapist. Trust between different parts of yourself. Trauma therapy is about learning to trust your nervous system.
When she says “no”: we listen.
When she says “this is scary”: we slow down.
We don’t rush or force.
We don’t push or coerce.
This isn’t boot camp.
We aren’t here to rip off any band-aids.
We are here to create a safe place for healing.
Trauma therapy can help
It is a great privilege to walk clients through trauma treatment. I don’t take this lightly.
What I find amazing—time-after-time—is how; once we have established trust and we let your nervous system guide treatment, clients often feel better faster than they expected. Because there’s great power in saying things out loud. To giving it language.
A name.
Trauma is not a scary monster we keep locked in the closet.
Trauma is the most hurt part of ourself that we set free.
I help clients:
heal and recover from traumatic experiences
learn how to appropriately hold what happened in the context of the rest of their lives
feel capable and confident
feel more grounded and in touch with their mind, body, and spirit
be more present in their lives
learn to have compassion for themselves
re-engage meaningfully with healthy relationships
improve focus and concentration
get a better night’s sleep
regain a sense of presence and control
get back out there and enjoy their lives!
Trauma therapy isn’t the only service I offer at my Colorado online therapy practice. Other mental health services at
Heather Rose Counseling include:
Offering online trauma therapy throughout Colorado:
Denver, Boulder, Greeley, Fort Collins, Longmont, Colorado Springs, and the Grand Junction
Contact me to learn more about how I can help you overcome trauma and reclaim your life.
Questions before getting started?
Contact me here.
You don’t have to live with chronic depression, unmanageable anxiety, imposter syndrome, low self-esteem, or feelings of purposelessness.
Therapy for trauma can help you feel at home in your body, perhaps for the first time. My online therapy practice specializes in helping women who are tired of playing small in their own lives,
to find healing and empowerment.
To start your trauma therapy journey,
follow these three simple steps:
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a 15-minute call so I can answer your questions and you can see that I won't bite
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meet with Heather for an intake session to talk about your goals