trauma & life events
“What if it happens again?”
“I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Nothing is safe anymore, and I can’t trust anyone.”
Sound familiar?
I see you.
Trauma affects many of us and life events affect us all. Traumatic events are things that deeply impact the nervous system, the emotional and memory centers of our brain, and the way we think of the world and others. Trauma creates fear, distrust, disgust, aversion, sadness, and anger. These events can happen in a way that threatens our safety or the safety of others, or even events in which others were gravely wounded or died.
It can be professionally connected- first responders, military, educators, healthcare professionals and others are most affected. It can also be personally connected- interpersonal trauma, assault, accidents, etc. It can cross the lifespan, beginning with intergenerational trauma that we may be affected by from our elders, or something that recently occurred.
At Trellis, your emotions will be validated, your thoughts will be reflected, and your experiences and perceptions will be believed unconditionally, without judgement.
validate
what happened
One of the most frequent things trauma survivors share is that their experiences are either dismissed as untrue, or invalidated as “not a big deal,” “in the past,” or “not as bad as ____.” At Trellis, your experiences are validated in a way that acknowledges and understands.
soothe
the heart, mind, soul
Trauma affects all aspects of our physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual elements. At Trellis, we offer counseling that addresses the way trauma impacts the brain and thoughts, soothes the emotional wounds, and restores freedom and choice to YOU.
grow
your life beyond
Similar to grief, trauma can never be undone. The best therapy in the world cannot erase it, or change that it happened to you. But you are not defined by what has happened to you. There is life beyond those bounds, if you’ll permit us to illuminate the path.
Child & adolescent trauma:
WARNING SIGNS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH UNDERLYING/UNRESOLVED TRAUMA IN CHILDREN AND TEENS. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
“What if we changed the dialogue from ‘What is wrong with you?’ to ‘What happened to you?’” - Dr. Bruce Perry
SLEEP DISRUPTION
Severe and noticeable sleep disruption (either excessive sleep or insomnia) and/or nightmares beyond what would be typical for a developing child
MOOD SWINGS
Emotional instability that seems to constantly sway between extremes, without explanation or cause, unrelated to physical illness or typical handling of stress (exams, etc.)
OPPOSITIONAL BEHAVIOR
Talking back, “automatic” defensiveness, lashing out, hyperfixation on control and independence; can also include rage, anger, and acting out toward others
SELF-HARMING
Self-harming behavior can be open or discrete, and comes in many forms, including cutting, burning, hair-pulling, hitting, disordered eating, deprivation of medicine and other varieties
Trellis can help with these kinds of trauma:
+ military/first-responders
+ Traumatic grief
+ school/ education
+ birth, death, divorce, life events
+ accident
+ assault/injury
+ interpersonal
+ professional
If you’re ready to…
01
Stop feeling stuck reliving your experience(s)
02
Share openly, your story believed
03
Honor & separate yourself from what was
04
Explore life beyond your trauma
…then let’s get to work.
perspective from gillian:
Life after trauma does not have to be ‘disordered.’
There is post-traumatic growth, too.
I AM A TRAUMA SURVIVOR MYSELF, AND I’M HERE TO TELL YOU THAT EXPERIENCING TRAUMA DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THE GRIM PROGNOSIS PORTRAYED BY MANY.
I HAVE SEEN SOME OF THE WORST OF HUMANITY,
AND SOME OF THE BEST OF HUMANITY.
POST TRAUMATIC GROWTH SHOWS US THAT THERE CAN BE BOTH. OUR HEARTS CAN HOLD SPACE FOR BOTH.
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Short answer: no.
Long answer: no, because you aren’t broken. Trauma does a lot of things, that are difficult experiences to go through, but it does not break you. You heal and carry it in a way that maximizes the quality of your life.
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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, aka PTSD, is a formal diagnosis created to describe a set of symptoms someone is experiencing 30 days or more after a traumatic event has occurred.
Traumatic events may include things like military experiences…but they can also be many other things that happen to every day people. What happened to you WAS really terrible, and there is no comparison for that. Remember: Your trauma, your story, is believed and valid here.
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There’s a lot to unpack here.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a modality or type of therapy created to target where emotions/cognitions and the memory center of the brain collide. It is highly effective for many people, but not for everyone. There are some people who benefit more from different styles, or other therapy options, and EMDR is not a one-size-heals-all option.
Check out the EMDR International Association website for more information.
It’s important for you to know that there is nothing that can make the memories you have stop, or otherwise disappear. But therapy CAN help with decreasing frequency, intensity and emotional impact of these memories, and help you develop coping skills for how to adaptively heal through the experience.
