Therapy for Trauma
In Marin County, California & online for California Residents
“Being traumatized is not just an issue of being stuck in the past; it is just as much a problem of not being fully alive in the present.”
~Bessel van der Kolk
Trauma is often described as suffering so great it cannot be expressed in words.
It creates chaos to our sense of well-being. Bodily sensations, emotional outbursts, chronic mental health issues are all ways trauma keeps showing up in daily life. Our past is alive in our actions, movements, dreams, reactions to people, and body sensations. To deal with overwhelming emotions, we have to tend to our physical responses to feel safe in our bodies.
“Words cannot integrate the disorganized sensations and action patterns that come from the
core imprint of trauma.”
~Bessel van der Kolk
Do you find yourself thinking about past experiences and feeling stuck in the body–numb, disconnected, and never safe? In this state, even the smallest triggers can bring up strong emotional responses and make you want to escape. You may have recurring nightmares, feel uncomfortable with intimacy, feel guilty, like everything’s your fault and like you just aren’t good enough.
Trauma responses are stored in the body. You have to heal the body to heal the impact of trauma. You can’t heal through talk alone. Trauma gets caught in the lower brain and can lead to poor decisions, big emotional reactions, hypervigilance. Trauma changes the brain and rearranges how you learn and how you identify. To process trauma, you have to connect both sides of the brain–verbal and non-verbal. In therapy, we create a container to allow the story to come out in bits and pieces in a way that is digestible and not overwhelming.
Working with me, you may be invited to unlock and release baggage from the past by engaging with the sandtray or through other somatic practices such as breathwork and movement. These modalities allow you to connect to your inner wisdom, calm the nervous system and bring a sense of safety, so you can fully live in the present moment. You can’t hide and feel connected at the same time.