My approach to trauma treatment means we adapt a sequence of important steps to ensure your healing is prioritized and consistent with your values and needs. It is rooted in trust and safety as I guide you in learning important skills before making the decision to process your trauma. These skills help you be a good personal scientist giving you more efficacy in recognizing fluctuations in your stress levels and to effectively cope with these changes. During this beginning phases of treatment, I'll provide you my expertise in trauma, what are the best practices, and ensure you have all the information you need before making the decision to process your trauma. This decision is a big one and I will encourage you to consider cultural practices or ways to encourage your post traumatic growth. If you have decided to proceed with treatment, then we will take things at a pace that is comfortable for you. We will utilize skills learned earlier to guide you processing of this intense experience. I approach processing of trauma as if you are rewriting the narrative. Together we will put a time stamp on this event so that you can hold multiple perspectives about this difficult and challenging time without the worry of becoming so overwhelmed with emotions. Finally we deepen your healing by gaining deeper perspectives of your past experiences, reinforce consistent practice of skills, and continue developing your strength and resiliency to live your authentic life.
I have training in various modalities of trauma work that include both bottom-up Processing (e.g., Polyvagal theory) and top-down processing (e.g., prolonged exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT).
The Four Rs of Trauma Informed Care: Research shows that nearly 80% of the world population experiences a really stressful life event. There are multiple ways in which stress is interpreted (acute or chronic) and experienced across communities and cultures. Therefore recognizing that trauma impacts many is an important first step. When we realize how disruptive stressful experiences can be, we can respond in ways that are healing, validating, and bear witness to an untold story. Acknowledging stressful experiences encourages reflexivity to zoom in and out of how impactful this experience is, the awareness to not re-traumatize or harm, and to build strength to heal and grow (THE FOUR RS).
The neurobiology of trauma and initial steps of treatment
|
Grounding Skills Worksheet
|
| ||