Trauma-focused psychotherapy offers a steady place to slow down and be met with care. Many people arrive sensing that something inside hasn’t fully settled. They may be capable, thoughtful, and outwardly functioning — and still feel overwhelmed, disconnected, on edge, or quietly carrying more than they want to.

You don’t need to arrive with a clear agenda or the right words. We take our time. Together, we pay close attention to what’s present — emotionally, bodily, and relationally — and to how your inner experience is responding in the moment. The work follows what feels most relevant and alive for you, rather than a fixed plan or set of techniques.

For many people, emotions learned to stay in the background — especially if they once felt too intense, unsupported, or unsafe. That distance often developed for a good reason: it helped you get through. Here, we approach those experiences gently, with respect for your nervous system and care for the pace that feels right. Nothing is forced. We listen for what’s ready.

Making Sense of Trauma and Our Reactions

Traumatic experiences are, by their very nature, overwhelming. Trauma literally means wound or injury. People differ in what they experience as traumatic, but some events are so stressful that most nervous systems struggle to absorb them — especially when they happen early in life, repeatedly, or without adequate support.

Trauma can arise from acute events — such as accidents, violence, medical emergencies, or sudden loss — or from ongoing relational stress, neglect, emotional harm, or environments that felt unpredictable, frightening, or unsafe. We now understand that emotionally overwhelming experiences can be just as impactful as physical danger, particularly in childhood.

When trauma remains unresolved, the nervous system can stay organized around protection rather than connection. The world may feel threatening. Relationships may feel complicated or exhausting. A sense of being “not enough,” unsafe, or fundamentally alone can linger. If this resonates, it is not a personal failure. It reflects how your system adapted to survive.

When Trauma Gets “Stuck” in the Body and Nervous System

Trauma is not only remembered as a story. It is often carried as sensation, emotion, posture, impulse, and expectation — sometimes without clear words or conscious memory.

When experiences were too much to process at the time, parts of the nervous system may continue to respond as if the danger were still present. This can lead to patterns such as:

• chronic anxiety, vigilance, or burnout

• emotional numbing or detachment

• sudden waves of fear, panic, or irritability

• difficulty sleeping, concentrating, or settling

• relationship patterns that feel repetitive or confusing

• dissociation — feeling spaced out, unreal, or disconnected from self or body

• physical tension, pain, fatigue, or stress-related symptoms

These are not signs that something is wrong with you. They are signs that your system learned powerful strategies to protect you — strategies that may no longer be serving you in the present.

Understanding Complex Trauma

Complex trauma refers to traumatic experiences that are repeated, ongoing, or embedded within relationships — often beginning in childhood and occurring in situations that were difficult or impossible to escape.

Complex trauma may involve experiences such as:

• growing up in unpredictable, overwhelming, or emotionally unsafe environments

• chronic emotional neglect, misattunement, or relational rupture

• feeling both drawn to and frightened by caregivers or partners

• prolonged exposure to abuse, intrusion, or coercion

• persistent experiences of being “othered,” bullied, or made unsafe

• cumulative stress without repair or support

In these conditions, the nervous system may come to treat closeness, emotion, or even everyday life as dangerous. Trauma responses — hypervigilance, avoidance, dissociation, control, or collapse — are not pathology. They are survival responses that became overgeneralized.

The Role of Dissociation and Protective Adaptations

For some people, dissociation becomes an essential survival strategy. Dissociation allows a person to disconnect — from sensation, emotion, memory, or identity — when staying present would have been overwhelming or unsafe.

Dissociation exists on a spectrum. It may look like zoning out, emotional numbing, memory gaps, or a sense of not fully inhabiting one’s body. For others, it may involve more distinct parts of experience that hold different emotions, beliefs, or roles.

These adaptations are not signs of weakness or disorder. They reflect intelligence under pressure. With careful, attuned support, it is possible to work with dissociation respectfully — increasing choice, flexibility, and integration over time.

How Trauma-Focused Therapy Supports Healing

The focus of trauma-focused psychotherapy is not to relive the past, but to help your nervous system experience greater safety, steadiness, and choice in the present.

Our work together involves:

• creating a relationship that feels grounded, responsive, and trustworthy

• gently getting to know how trauma shows up in your life now

• reducing the intensity and charge of traumatic memory

• supporting the body and emotions to complete what was once interrupted

• helping you integrate these experiences into daily life, work, and relationships

When guided thoughtfully, trauma can be addressed without overwhelm. Over time, many people experience more ease, clarity, emotional range, and a deeper sense of being at home in themselves.

Ways of Working Together

Each person’s healing process is unique. Depending on your needs and preferences, this work may involve more focused, “pure” experiential approaches or a carefully integrated blend.

I offer trauma-focused psychotherapy informed by approaches such as:

• experiential, attachment-focused therapy

• parts-oriented work

• attachment-informed EMDR

• somatic and nervous-system-based approaches

These are offered either as distinct experiences or thoughtfully blended, always guided by your system’s capacity and readiness rather than by technique. If you’re interested, you can learn more on my methods page.

If you have a trauma-related question and did not find the answer on this page, feel free to explore frequently asked questions about trauma and dissociation.

A Closing Note

If you recognize yourself anywhere in this description, know that recovery is possible. You are not broken. You adapted to circumstances that required strength, creativity, and endurance.

Trauma-focused psychotherapy offers a way to gently undo what no longer serves you, while honoring what once helped you survive. With time, support, and care, many people move toward a life that feels more spacious, connected, and their own.