When people experience trauma the support they receive can be life changing. While many people can recover from trauma over time with the love and support of family and friends and bounce back with resiliency, others may discover effects of lasting trauma. Most people experience trauma and the shame, fear, guilt, and sense of powerlessness starts to build. To avoid reliving the past, survivors of trauma try their hardest to push forward and avoid processing the event or series of events that brought so much pain. Trauma survivors can find their future relationships challenging, excessive blame and doubt showing up at the workplace, low self-worth and self-esteem issues, along with unhealthy ways to mask or numb the pain.
Do not judge my story by the chapter you walked in on
During our sessions we will address how your past shows up in your present. Or maybe you endured something more recent and can’t seem to move forward in your life; so you need help identifying your next steps.
Trauma is defined by the individual. I have worked with survivors who have experienced physical/sexual/emotional abuse in childhood, witnessing abuse and violence, car accidents, and tragic loss of family or friends.
Generational Trauma
Does your trauma seem to be a repeated cycle of abuse or unhealthy habits that started in your family, way before you? Some families hold secrets that create unhealthy thoughts and behaviors over time. Intergenerational trauma can end with you! We will work together to recognize patterns of behavior that cycle through your family and take steps to break the cycle.
Race Based Trauma
We can work on how race or racism impacts your daily functioning, work relationships, or self-worth. As research continues to grow in this area, therapists are beginning to recognize and address race as a factor in traumatic experiences or stress related events. From micro aggressions in the workplace, to overt racism flooding your social media timelines, to directly experiencing racism personally or systemically. According to an article in Psychology Today written by Dr. Williams; Chou, Asnaani, and Hofmann (2012) found that perceived racial discrimination was associated with increased mental disorders in African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans, showing that racism may in itself be a traumatic experience. We will work towards understanding how race based stress or race based trauma is part of your story. Together, we will put the pieces together that are needed for your healing.
