Trauma and Abuse Counseling

Trauma and abuse occurring at anytime during our lives often has long lasting effects that can prevent us from reaching our full potential and from experiencing life as joyfully as we would have if the trauma or abuse had never occurred. As a result of their trauma and abuse histories many people experience greater amounts of:

Anxiety
Fear
Distrust of others and/or themselves
Shame
Guilt
Powerlessness
Isolation
Depression
Difficulty developing or maintaining intimate relationships
Difficulty keeping a steady job
Difficulty concentrating and/or difficulty completing often simple tasks

Some experience frequent and/or intense nightmares or flashbacks or other symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many people develop self-harmful and/or addictive behaviors as a way to cope with their often overwhelming feelings. It is also common for survivors to recreate their abuse or traumatic episodes with other people. Such retraumatizations reinforce and/or deepen the level of trauma symptoms.

Counseling Can Be Retraumatizing

Often trauma and abuse survivors enter into counseling trying to heal and find that the counseling retraumatizes them. This often happens when the counselor has the client directly deal with the trauma before the client has the emotional skills to deal with it or at a pace that is too fast and overwhelms the client. The emotions associated with abuse and trauma are typically very intense and if you do not have the skills to manage such strong emotions, participating in any activity that triggers those emotions can be retraumatizing and cause greater harm.

My Approach to Keeping Treatment Safe

In the early stages of treatment we therefore want to avoid going into the details of trauma or abuse. Instead we focus on managing your emotions in the moment as they come up for you. This includes developing skills to manage your reactions to the trauma and abuse so that they no longer disempower you. Once you have gained good skills at managing your emotional reactions in the present, then you can begin to carefully address and heal the wounds of the past at a pace that is effective but not overwhelming.