Trauma can affect a person practically, emotionally, and interpersonally for many years after the traumatic event. With so much at stake, finding real healing can truly be life-saving.

Understanding trauma

Trauma refers to any severely disturbing experience that causes a person a strong sense of fear or helplessness and negatively affects them for a long time afterward. 

Trauma can result from experiencing a single distressing event, such as a natural disaster or medical trauma, or repeated exposure to traumatic events, such as abuse or neglect in childhood that took place over an extended period of time. Even a seemingly benign glance or comment can get stuck in your nervous system and cause lasting trauma.

Trauma can affect your life in unexpected ways

Trauma uproots a person’s sense of safety in the world and affects them in unexpected ways for years to come. 

Not all of us experience the same effects from a traumatic event. Our reactions depend on previous life experiences, genetics, the frequency of the events, age and stage of life, and the resources and support we have available. When trauma does result, however, its effects can persist for long periods until the trauma is addressed.

Learn to recognize 5 of the ways that trauma can impact your life

1. Emotionally and psychologically, including anxiety, depression, mood swings, difficulty concentrating, intrusive memories, or flashbacks of the traumatic event (PTSD). 

2. Impaired functioning – which makes it difficult to focus effectively or perform effectively at work or in your studies. 

3. Low self-esteem and a negative self-image cause difficulty in making decisions and having the confidence to succeed at work and in life. Feelings of guilt, shame, or worthlessness are also common.

4. Relationship issues – such as difficulty trusting others, fear of intimacy or vulnerability, and difficulty forming or maintaining healthy relationships. This can strain your relationships with family, and reduce your capacity to have meaningful friendships and romantic relationships for years or even decades after the traumatic events.

5. Unhealthy coping strategies to manage your distress.

Recognize the symptoms of trauma 

After experiencing trauma, it is normal to re-experience intrusive memories, flashbacks, or nightmares related to the traumatic event. You might also avoid certain places, people, or activities that remind you of what happened. 

It is normal to experience anxiety, irritability, sleeping issues, hyperarousal, hypervigilance, or find it difficult to relax and enjoy life. You might also struggle with persistently negative moods and thoughts; about yourself and other people or have a negative worldview. Or you may feel a sense of emotional numbness or disconnection as a way to cope with life. 

Recovering from trauma 

Although trauma can feel all-encompassing, with the right help it IS possible to heal from trauma and gain the confidence to move forward in your life. A skilled professional who specializes in trauma can help you process the ways in which trauma has impacted your life, your relationships, and your capacity to function and be your best.

Combining traditional modalities like talk therapy with research-backed techniques such as EMDR Therapy and Flash Technique is highly effective in resolving trauma more quickly than talk therapy on its own, sometimes with dramatic results.

An experienced therapist can draw from various therapeutic modalities available to find the right treatment for you, help you heal from what happened to you, and create the life you want for yourself.

Diagnosing and treating trauma

The symptoms of trauma often overlap with other mental health challenges. Effective diagnosis by a trained mental health professional who understands trauma is the first step on the path to healing. 

Trauma-aware therapy that draws on tools shown to be effective for trauma treatment is the next step toward healing. I'm here to support you.

My specialties

I support clients who are experiencing life transitions resulting in grief, loss, anxiety, relationship challenges, panic attacks, medical trauma, attachment trauma, job loss, empty nest, intergenerational trauma, performance anxiety, sleep disturbances, and other upsetting and stress-related issues that typically don't involve neglect, ongoing violence or addiction, but nonetheless result in ongoing significant distress.

Trauma therapy in New York. Help for trauma in Vermont. Practical help for trauma online.

The American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs/Dept. of Defense, The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the World Health Organization recognize EMDR therapy as an effective psychotherapy.