Access a safe and compassionate place to face your past so it doesn’t define your future.
Trauma and PTSD
Therapy for adults and couples at my Arlington, VA office location and/or online for those residing in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and 40 other states.
Trauma does not discriminate.
Trauma can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
Whether it stems from accidents, violence, natural disasters, war/combat, or from prolonged stress such as serious health conditions or family issues, the impact can be profound. Even those indirectly involved such as first responders and family members can feel its effects. Making sense of traumatic experiences can be extremely difficult, and many people get stuck in their recovery process.
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
— Maya Angelou
Left untreated, trauma can significantly impact our lives. It can rewire our brains and bodies, causing us to experience everyday events as life-threatening emergencies. It can leave you feeling unsafe and disconnected from others, the world around you, and even from yourself.
Ongoing effects of trauma may show up as:
Nightmares
Intrusive and distressing memories, images, or sensations
Avoidance, and experiencing discomfort around people, places, conversations, activities, objects, and situations that are similar in nature to the traumatic event(s)
Eroded trust and intimacy in relationships
Decreased self-esteem
Chronic anger, irritability, anxiety, guilt, or shame
Physical ailments or sleep difficulties
Diminished concentration and performance at work
To make matters worse, people may have told you that you need to relax, get over it, and move on, only contributing to feelings of helplessness or hopelessness, and a sense that something must be wrong with you.
Fortunately, there are treatments that can help. Recovery is possible.
Giving voice to your experience, feeling heard by someone else, and learning effective coping skills can be transformative. Trauma-focused therapy can do just that, helping you to face your past so it doesn’t define your future.
WHAT WE’LL DO TOGETHER
Trauma-focused therapy can help you to:
Process the trauma
Examine how you’ve made sense out of the traumatic events(s) happening, as well as the ways in which the trauma(s) has shaped your beliefs about yourself, others, and the world.
Build real-world coping skills
Learn tools to challenge your beliefs, regulate emotions, and mange stress. Discover ways to approach the things that you have been avoiding and gain freedom from the ways trauma has altered your life.
Enhance post-traumatic growth
Cultivate inner strength through the knowledge that you’ve overcome tremendous hardship. Recognize and embrace new opportunities. Forge deeper relationships with others and with life itself.
Common questions about therapy for trauma and PTSD
-
Acute Trauma resulting from a single distressing event, such as an accident, sexual assault, death or serious injury, infidelity, betrayal, childbirth or loss, or natural disaster.
Chronic Trauma stemming from repeated, prolonged exposure to highly stressful situations like an abusive relationship, racism or inequality, and tragic events or images at work.
Complex Trauma occurring due to exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events, often of an invasive, interpersonal nature.
Developmental Trauma involving experiencing family disruption, childhood abuse, bullying and humiliation, or experiencing a chaotic, lonely, and/or neglectful childhood.
-
I am skilled in a number of effective, evidence-based therapies for trauma and PTSD. These are time-limited (~8-15 sessions) and most require practice work between sessions.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) involves approaching memories, thoughts, situations, and other triggers in order to gain new understanding, file experiences away as a memory, and get back to living life the way you want to. Learn more here and here.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) involves learning how to evaluate and change upsetting thoughts you’ve experienced since the trauma. Changing the way you think can influence how you feel. Learn more here and here.
Written Exposure Therapy (WET) involves guided writing exercises on emotions, thoughts, and sensations associated with traumatic events, allowing for reduced emotional intensity associated with the memory and development of a more coherent narrative. Learn more here.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) involves moving towards flexibility by identifying values and then making committed actions in line with those values even when difficult thoughts, emotions, memories, etc. are present. This approach focuses on creating a meaningful and values-driven life in spite of symptoms.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) involves learning how to balance acceptance and change and build a life worth living. While I do not offer a comprehensive DBT program, I do incorporate DBT skills (e.g., mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation) to therapy when needed.