Therapy for Trauma+PTSD

In-person & online in chico ca

Trauma is not just about what happened to you.

It is what is held inside of us when there is nobody who truly understands how we’ve suffered. Trauma leaves us feeling misjudged, misunderstood, and alone. Trauma is held in the body, in our nervous systems. And it manifests in reactivity that can feel intense.

Maybe you’re noticing:

  • That you’re often stuck in reactive “fight or flight” behavior

  • It is difficult to feel safe and loved in our relationships

  • You feel shutdown and unable to move in any new direction

  • It feels like negative experiences keep repeating themselves

  • You experience dissociation; it is sometimes difficult to remember what you did yesterday or last week

  • There’s a period in your childhood where you have no memories

  • It is hard to know when you’re over-reacting or when your anger, frustration, or fear “makes sense” in the situation

It may feel impossible, but you can recover from trauma.

My approach to working with trauma

When you have a compassionate witness, who understands “what happened to you”, it is possible to finally begin to heal from traumatic experiences, abuse, and neglect. Trauma conditions the nervous system: We get stuck in maladaptive patterns of fight or flight, freeze or “fawn” behaviors which are ineffective in getting our real needs met in the present moment because this reactivity is all about the past. But our nervous system doesn’t know that. Healing from trauma is a process of deconditioning the nervous system, so that we achieve the ability to consciously choose how to best respond to reach our goals or get our needs met in a relationship.

I understand trauma. Sometimes there are no words to describe the annihilation of self that can occur after repeated abuse, neglect, and abandonment. I have experience with narcissistic abuse, spiritual abuse, childhood attachment trauma, sexual abuse, threat-to-life trauma, and trafficking trauma.

Our body and soul are always moving towards health and healing. I will show you how you can not only survive but thrive with the strength and wisdom that comes to us only after great suffering.

What we’ll work on

Therapy for trauma can help you:

  • Reconnect with your body and sense of well-being

  • Find safety and fulfillment in relationships

  • Learn to respond and not react

  • Discover true self-compassion

  • Live the authentic story of your true nature and life purpose

Grow into your new and vital self as you heal from trauma.

FAQS

Common questions about trauma therapy

  • No, many of my clients heal from childhood trauma without recovering explicit memory of the trauma or abuse. Unprocessed trauma continues to live on in our present life. We can work with these patterns to effect recovery. Oftentimes, my clients report having bad dreams during trauma therapy. This is a sign of healing through unconscious soul processes.

  • When we truly forgive ourselves and stop believing in our deepest core that “we deserved it” we become free and in this we also forgive the trespasses of others. However, our abusers have to face their own misdeeds, we don’t have the power to absolve them.

  • In my practice, clients usually recover from trauma within 6 months to two years. It is worth the work. With the strength and wisdom that only comes through great suffering, clients often leave therapy feeling empowered to become voices for truth and change in their families and in the world.