Gentle Trauma Resolution
Relief and Healing from Trauma
You may have arrived here because…
Things have felt heavy for some time, and you’re not sure if you remember how things were before, but you’d like to have a different experience of your life.
You feel alone and have a hard time being in relationships.
You find it hard to stop thinking about specific events, and find yourself suffering from intrusive memories, nightmares, flashbacks, and extreme avoidance.
You’d like to find your way back to living.
You have tried therapy before, and not sure if it was helpful, but you’d like to try a different way.
However you arrived here, I’m so glad you’re here. Read on to see if I may be a good fit for you.
Gentle Trauma Resolution
Sometimes, we know that we have gone through a lot, but we may not exactly remember what we have gone through. We may find ourselves getting triggered, but not know what trigged us. We may feel that we are not okay, and long for a different way.
If that resonates with you, then gentler trauma resolution tools may be supportive for you. They may offer you the insight, but also the internal feeling of healing and relief from trauma.
The tool I use most for gentle trauma resolution is IFS, which stands for internal family systems. This tool is based on the framework that we all have an imaginary family of characters that live inside of us (if you’ve ever seen the movie Inside Out, that is a very accurate depiction of IFS). We may have a part of us that doesn’t trust others, a part of us that is very critical, or a part of us that is very tired and just wants to experience relief. We work with all the parts :) People who have used IFS in our sessions together have routinely reported experiencing relief, and often those small moments begin to link together, creating a more solid chain of healing.
Under this framework, I won’t ask you to share the details of “what happened”, though you can if you want to. You can begin to experience relief, even without sharing the details.
Have questions? I am happy to find us a time to answer them, and help you decide if I may be a good fit.
Narrative Exposure Therapy
If you are seeking to reduce and resolve the symptoms that often follow difficult or traumatic events, such as intrusive thoughts and memories, inability to stop thinking about the event, flashbacks, avoidance, or hypervigilance, then you may find Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) helpful in our work together.
What is Narrative Exposure Therapy?
Narrative exposure therapy (or NET) is a short-term, evidence-based psychotherapy designed to treat individuals who have experienced traumatic events.
How Narrative Exposure Therapy Works:
In our first session, we lay out a timeline of life events that you have experienced, using flowers for the positive events, and stones for the negative ones. This will help me get a big picture understanding of your life story. All sessions after the first will be dedicated to processing the “stones”, or traumatic events that we have identified together. Each session is 1.5-2 hours long, and people usually finish treatment in 6-12 sessions.
All sessions afterwards:
We work through one difficult memory at a time. I walk you through narrating the details of the event. I ask you questions like, what did you see? what did you hear/smell/taste? what did you think? what did you feel? what happened next? until we get to the end of the event.
Most people begin to experience relief after 3 sessions. And although most people find the process intense (kind of like going through surgery), people appreciate that it is a short-term intervention, with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
You may find NET helpful if…
You have experienced physical abuse growing up, or watched a loved one experience it.
You have experienced unwanted sexual touch.
You or your family have experienced war, displacement, or homelessness.
Not sure if NET is the right choice for you? I’m happy to address your questions/concerns.