Trauma Therapy
Here at Waystone, we have a heart for people who have experienced trauma. When we say “trauma”, we mean “little ‘t’ trauma”, the smaller events that build up over time, along with “big ‘T’ trauma”, more significant events that have a clearer impact. We understand how frightening and overwhelming it can be to begin working on these issues. Our therapists work hard to create a safe and healing environment, and to go at a pace that honors each individual. Some of the topics we treat include childhood and adult sexual abuse, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), single-incident traumas, complex trauma, childhood neglect and abuse, and more.
Trauma tends to keep our brains trapped in “fight, flight, or freeze” mode, where our bodies are always on edge waiting to react to an active threat. Consequently, this leaves us exhausted from constant hyper-vigilance and heightened reactivity to every perceived risk. Breaking out of this mode can be difficult, especially if we have been strongly rooted in it for long periods of time.
Because talk therapy cannot access and heal trauma memory as deeply, we take a neurobiological approach to trauma therapy. The goal is to break the power of distressing memories and entrenched thinking that keep people stuck in undesirable patterns of behavior, or re-experiencing painful memories and sensations. By utilizing mind-body approaches, our therapists can help you reach more profound levels of healing and freedom.
Approaches to Trauma Therapy
At Waystone, our team is trained in a variety of brain-based and somatic (body-based) techniques, including Brainspotting, Neurofeedback, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Internal Family Systems (IFS). These evidence-based trauma therapy treatments are shown to effectively alleviate the emotional impact of trauma and distressing memories.
This gentle trauma processing framework uses eye position to help clients address stuck emotions and sensations on a deeper level.
This approach leverages bilateral stimulation during memory reprocessing to help clients regulate and decrease reactivity.
IFS works to identify and unburden clients’ parts, such as child or critic parts, through connection with inner resources.
Next Steps
Meet our team of compassionate therapists to discover who would be the best fit for you.
Interested in pursuing one of the therapies we offer? Reach out to us for a free consultation!