Do You Desperately Want To Free Yourself From A Traumatic Past?
Can you remember a time when you felt safe and life was good, but you just can’t seem to get back there on your own? Do you struggle with:
Low motivation, fatigue, memory problems, or lack of focus?
Nightmares, flashbacks, stress dreams, or insomnia?
The feeling of being stuck, alone, or always on guard?
Perhaps you’re just going through the motions day by day, not really connected to yourself, other people, or life in general. Or maybe you have children and feel guilty for not being the parent you want to be, so you’re looking to therapy to interrupt the cycle of trauma.
Trauma Can Have An Enormous Impact On Every Area Of Your Life
Some days, just as soon as it seems you’re successfully holding everything together, the painful thoughts and feelings all come crashing down. You may “carry on” by ignoring negative childhood experiences only to have daily interactions thrust you right back into that painful past.
You may feel foggy and dissociated—as if nothing is real. You probably don’t sleep well or don’t feel rested. Even when you’re around others, you tend to feel alone and preoccupied. You may be cut off from family and friends you miss—unable to talk about what’s going on without feeling like a burden.
All of these challenges can present a huge blow to your well-being, which is why our compassionate trauma counselors at April Lyons Psychotherapy Group want to help. Whatever you’re going through, we want you to heal and reconnect to a life where you feel safe, less reactive, and more at ease.
Trauma Is Sometimes An Unavoidable Part Of The Human Experience
Although trauma is very common, it requires specialized support because it changes the brain, making certain parts more likely to become overly alert and remain hypervigilant. After a traumatic experience, the brain—in an act of self-preservation—begins to hone in on and react to perceived threats, even if they’re not real.
As a result, your brain stops creating new memories unless they relate to the traumatic event, and things that used to matter become less important than watching out for triggers. Even love and connection can be threatening. For instance, friends or family members who do not understand all the underpinnings of trauma may say or do things that are utterly triggering.
Many People With Trauma Withdraw And Suffer In Silence
However, we live in a society where we are forced to function normally, even if it means ignoring our own wounds and self-care. That’s where avoidance behaviors, insomnia, and symptoms of anxiety and depression set in. It’s a vicious cycle that feeds itself by locking your brain into identifying and avoiding perceived threats, thereby strengthening the neuro-networks related to the trauma.
Because trauma affects you on a neurological level, it has the tendency to grow worse over time, which is why counseling is so important. Working with our trauma-informed therapists at April Lyons Psychotherapy Group can offer you powerful insight, support, and tools for healing and changing how you see the world.
Therapy Is A Way To Finally Take Back Control From Trauma
Although turning to family and friends for support can be helpful, their advice can often be biased or even influenced by their own adversity in life. Tackling trauma through therapy gives you an unbiased, trauma-informed ally who can help you identify core issues, challenge unhelpful patterns, and find solutions that work for you.
Trauma counseling offers you a space where you can express yourself without judgment—where you can explore goals, ambitions, and your creative vision for how you want your life to be. More than that, we’ll support you in healing your deepest, most painful wounds while providing you with the skills needed to make the dreams you have for your life a reality.
What Are Our Trauma Treatment Sessions Like?
We’ll start trauma counseling by simply building a relationship and getting to know one another so you feel safe and contained within the therapeutic space. Always working at a pace that feels comfortable to you, your therapist will gather a little more about your history, gently exploring core issues, unhelpful patterns, and the source of your trauma.
We’ll offer you some psychoeducation on trauma to demystify symptoms while equipping you with effective skills for managing triggers. Then, we can explore modalities, set up a plan of action, and discuss what your journey may look like.
What Kind Of Tools Do We Use In Trauma Counseling?
Each person’s experience with trauma is different, so our counselors draw from an eclectic range of treatment strategies to create a path to healing that’s unique to each person.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a way to process trauma on a neurological level without having to talk about or relive the experience. EMDR therapy for trauma uses techniques to identify core issues and challenge unconscious beliefs, replacing them with more positive, adaptive perspectives.
Somatic Therapy facilitates healing by bringing awareness to where trauma gets stuck and takes up residence in the body so it can be released. Where EMDR reduces the emotional charge of trauma, Somatic Therapy reduces the physical impact of that painful experience.
We’ll also equip you with mindfulness, breathing, and grounding skills to help with emotional regulation and self-soothing so you stay in the moment instead of being thrust into the past. We can also help you improve family dynamics, find solutions for insomnia, and make referrals if you decide to seek a psychiatrist’s support for medication management.
Our goal as therapists is to help you unlock your brain and give you access to new insights that will help you find meaning, resolution, and greater freedom in your experience with trauma.
With that, you'll have the space to enjoy connections with family and colleagues. You’ll be able to stay in the present moment and listen to your body when it communicates with you. You can improve your confidence and overall sense of well-being. Over time, your energy and motivation will increase, and you'll begin taking pleasure in hobbies, trying new things, and making new connections.
Do You Still Have Questions Or Concerns About Trauma Therapy?
Will my counselor really understand my experience with trauma?
All of our therapists are trauma-informed clinicians with master’s degrees in psychotherapy. We have assisted many clients in navigating trauma in both in-patient and out-patient settings. In addition to talk therapy, we each have additional training in EMDR therapy, somatic therapy, gestalt therapy, horse (equine) and animal-assisted therapy, brainspotting, and ketamine-assisted therapy. Whatever your story is, we have the utmost faith in our therapists and invite you to see what we have to offer.
How will this be any different from my past experiences with talk therapy for trauma?
Our trauma-informed therapists are going to draw from a large bank of treatment methods to make sure our approach to counseling is tailored specifically to your needs. Many types of therapy we use go beyond talking to create results. Somatic therapy, play and art therapy, EMDR, and nature-based models, like equine therapy, give you unique ways to access core issues, gain insight, and motivate change. If you’d like to learn more, we’d be happy to discuss our treatment options in greater detail.
I worry that talking about my trauma in therapy will make things worse.
Although it may seem intimidating at first, trauma counseling really isn’t as scary as it sounds. At first, talking about issues might feel uncomfortable, but that’s because you've been pushing so much down for so long.
Opening up, however, gives all of those painful thoughts and feelings a place to go so you can become unstuck, unlocked from the past. It’s by facing feelings head-on in a safe space—especially with the guidance of a trauma specialist—that healing and progress happen.
Let Us Help You Take Back Control Of Your Life
If trauma is interfering with your career, relationships, or your well-being on any level, our counselors at April Lyons Psychotherapy Group want to help free you from the past. Please Contact Us for your free, 20-minute consultation to see how our online and in-person trauma counseling services can help you.
Providing online and in-person trauma therapy services for Longmont, Denver, and Boulder Colorado.
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