Trauma Work
Trauma doesn't have to be big to be impactful. Maybe people holding onto unresolved trauma don't realize they are holding onto unresolved trauma. This is because they had decent parents who did their best, they weren't bullied or abused, and they feel that they had a pretty average childhood.
However, trauma is a result of an experience which overwhelms a person's ability to process, understand, and integrate what is happening. The nervous system will respond with a fight, flight, or freeze response in order to help the body survive. However, if the person cannot get away or respond in a way that processes and releases this energy, a couple of things can happen. It will store that unexpressed energy somewhere within the body, or if the energy generated was so much that it becomes dangerous to the survival of the body, it will create a part that can split away and divert some of that excess energy out from and away from the body so the body can survive.
Since trauma is determined by perception, developmental stage, and ability to make sense of what happened - things like nightmares, being yelled at, or being accidentally left behind at an event can all create stored responses that will continue to trigger you 40 years later. Get enough of these incidents happening throughout your childhood and you will find that even without a major traumatic event, your body will be carrying significant amount of emotional "debt" that could be affecting your current relationships, decision making, and beliefs.
Signs that your past is still affecting your present:
● Difficulty trusting or feeling safe with closeness.
● Hyperawareness of other people’s moods and reactions.
● Trouble expressing needs or setting boundaries.
● Saying yes when you want to say no.
● Fear of rejection, abandonment, or conflict.
● Shutting down or losing yourself in relationships.
In Work & Business
● Second-guessing decisions.
● Fear of mistakes, criticism, or visibility.
● Difficulty receiving praise or recognition.
● Minimizing your accomplishments.
● Overworking or undercharging to prove your worth.
● Freezing when it’s time to take an important step.
● Emotional flooding or numbness.
● Feeling disconnected from your body or identity.
● Reacting more intensely than you want to.
● Feeling internally conflicted.
● Experiencing different parts of yourself wanting different things.
● Understanding your patterns intellectually but struggling to change them.
● Wondering where your joy, creativity, or spontaneity went.
None of this means you’re broken.
Often, these responses developed because some part of you was trying to protect you.
What if those protective patterns could be understood and released rather than fought or judged?
I approach trauma work with the understanding that these experiences get stored within both the mind and the body. It is important to address both for the most effective results.
The Redford Method - I always start with the Redford Method to explore where trauma and beliefs have been stored within the parts and pieces of a person hidden within the subconscious. Addressing the different parts of you and allowing them to release their burdens, pain and trauma and integrating those pieces back into a complete whole is a crucial step in the healing process.
Somatic Coaching - I then like to use Somatic techniques for releasing any residual trauma stored within the body that are containing to act as triggers for the nervous system. I will give my clients homework to do during the week. It is important to be committed to this part of the work - as doing the homework will dramatically speed up the results and save you time and money on future appointments.
Guided Meditation - As a final step in the process, I will give you some guided meditations to follow that will help reprogram false or harmful beliefs and release any residual trauma contained within the nervous system. These can be done with me or at home.
That being said - healing doesn’t mean you’ll never feel triggered, afraid, angry, sad, or overwhelmed again.
It means you can begin responding differently.
- You will find more space to pause instead of automatically reacting.
- You will stay connected to your needs instead of abandoning yourself to keep someone else happy.
- You will stop making assumptions about how present or future circumstances will end.
- In your relationships, you may begin to communicate your needs, set boundaries, receive love, recognize unhealthy dynamics, and stay connected to and trust yourself.
- In your work, you may begin to trust your decisions, be visible, receive recognition, take meaningful risks, stand behind your value, and create without constantly needing approval.
- In your life, you may begin making room for more creativity, more connection, more peace, play, purpose, pleasure and joy.
This Work Is Not About…
Erasing Your Past
Your history is part of your story, but it doesn’t have to determine every chapter that follows.
Forcing You to Relive Trauma
The methods I have chosen can create healing without having to relive your most painful memories
Becoming Someone Else
The goal is to help you experience greater freedom to be yourself.
Ready to Begin?
You don’t have to have everything figured out before you begin.
You only need to recognize that something in you is ready for something different.
Let’s explore what healing could look like for you.