Heal Beyond Survival with Trauma‑Informed Care
Have you experienced a traumatic event?
Did you grow up under long-term stress, abuse, substance use, or other form of traumatic family environment?
Do you find yourself having flashbacks, nightmares, difficulty with trust and relationships, or feeling out of body?
The experience of single incident or prolonged trauma can leave deep and lasting effects on how you navigate the world, relate to yourself and others, and function on a daily basis. You may experience hypervigilence, anxiety, depression, difficulties with relationships, or a negative self concept and strong inner critic. Often traditional therapy modalities and therapists are not trauma informed, and can be unintentionally retraumatizing or ineffective in reducing symptoms. Thankfully, a growing body of evidence and therapy techniques have evolved that are profoundly helpful in resolving trauma and helping survivors live more fully and peacefully.
Foundational principles of trauma informed care:
At Prism we understand trauma informed care to be grounded in the following beliefs:
- Safety first. We cannot truly heal without physical and emotional safety. This means working with your therapist to build a sense of trust and safety both in the therapy office and in the therapy relationship.
- Choice and collaboration: Processing trauma does not mean white knucklng it through trauma memories or being asked probing questions that flood you. Instead, we are constantly checking in to see how you are feeling, allowing you to lead and find a pace that works for you and your nervous system. We will never pressure you to talk about anything you are not ready to, and recognize that having choice is integral to findig agency and rewriting trauma.
- Empowerment: healing from trauma isn’t just about post traumatic stress, it is equally about post traumatic growth. We will help you reclaim your voice, agency, and find strength and resilience to move beyond hardship.
- Context matters: Being trauma informed also means being culturally aware and recognizing the interconnectedness of culture, identity, and systems of oppression as part of hte impact of trauma. We are aware and constantly thinking about racial, gender, or other identity trauma and how it interplay’s with lived experience.
Trauma lives in the body: We understand the importance of getting out of your head and into your body to reprogram your nervous system out of flight and flight and into rest and digest. We use various body based modalities to help you find calm in your body as you work through hard experiences.
What can you expect when seeking trauma therapy?
Our therapists are trained in a variety of trauma-specific modalities, including EMDR, Internal Family Systems therapy, DBT, somatic modalities, and more. This means sessions may be a combination of general talk therapy, skills based strategies to manage symptoms, and body-based modalities including EMDR and IFS. Research consistently supports the efficacy of these modalities for the treatment of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and struggles self concept. The result is feeling more grounded, more in control, and a sense that what happened is in the past. You may also feel more able to be present in relationships and not enact old relationship patterns.
Common questions and concerns:
Will talking about my trauma make things worse?
All too often clients come to therapy only to have a therapist move too quickly or too directly and the client becomes more undone and triggered. In quality trauma informed care this should not be the case. Our therapists understand that effective treatment doesn’t mean just opening up all the hard memories. Quite the opposite, it means offering you resources and strategies to build safety, regulate effectively, and process slowly and intentionally for lasting healing.
How long does trauma therapy take?
Everyone’s journey is unique. For some, healing from a single incident can be a shorter term process. For others, unpacking long standing complex trauma can take time. Our goal is to meet you where you are, set goal that work for you, and work at a pace that feels sustainable and safe for you.
Take the first step
You don’t have to carry the weight of trauma alone. Healing is possible, and your therapists are eager to support you on your healing journey. Don’t hesitate to reach out today with any questions or to get started.