Therapy for Trauma
Trauma therapist in Pasadena
It's not your fault.
Trauma can profoundly affect how you see yourself, the world, and your relationships. It is common to feel stuck in cycles of self-doubt, numbing, or hypervigilance.
Therapy can help you move beyond the exhaustion you feel from working so hard to be “okay” and begin a process of integration, healing, and reclaiming your sense of safety.
Therapy for trauma with Embodied Living offers expert trauma therapist in Pasadena specializing in medical trauma, spiritual trauma, complex trauma.
Understanding Trauma: Beyond the Event Itself
Trauma occurs when we encounter experiences that overwhelm our ability to cope, leaving us feeling helpless, powerless, or unsafe. We often assume that trauma is defined by the magnitude of an event—such as a natural disaster or an assault—it is actually shaped by how we experience that event, rather than the event itself. This distinction is crucial in understanding why two people might respond differently to the same situation.
Common Types of Trauma
Trauma can take many different forms, including events that may not seem traumatic at first glance, but can still deeply affect your sense of safety, stability, or self-worth.
PTSD
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) often arises from experiencing or witnessing deeply distressing events. These events can lead to intense emotional and physical responses, such as flashbacks, anxiety, insomnia or emotional numbness.
Chronic or Complex Trauma
Prolonged and repeated stressful or frightening situations, such as ongoing abuse or neglect, which can lead to feelings of helplessness and persistent fear. This type of trauma frequently involves deeply rooted emotional and relational challenges.
Collective Trauma
Traumatic events experienced by entire groups or societies, such as racism, pandemics, terrorism, natural disasters, financial crises, and war.
Acute or Single Incident Trauma
Acute trauma typically results from sudden or intense distressing events, such as accidents, natural disasters, violence, or witnessing a traumatic death or suicide attempt. Can also include major life events such as the loss of a job or experiencing a major illness.
Medical Trauma
Distressing experiences in healthcare settings, such as invasive procedures, misdiagnoses, or prolonged hospital stays. These experiences can affect both physical and emotional well-being, leaving a lasting imprint of fear or distrust.
Attachment Trauma
Occurs when childhood experiences—such as neglect, emotionally immature parents, or significant losses—disrupt the development of secure relationships. This type of trauma often affects trust, emotional intimacy, and self-worth.
Spiritual Trauma
The emotional, psychological, and often existential harm caused by distressing experiences within a spiritual or religious context. This type of trauma can arise when an individual feels betrayed, shamed, or harmed by spiritual leaders, institutions, teachings, or communities, often leaving a deep imprint on one’s sense of identity, belonging, and worldview.
Intergenerational Trauma
Trauma can have lasting impacts that ripple across families and generations. Beyond the cycle of trauma perpetuated through behavioral patterns and relational dynamics, emerging research in epigenetics reveals that trauma can influence the next generation at a genetic level, leaving an imprint on how genes are expressed.
Symptoms of Unprocessed Trauma
Unprocessed trauma can manifest in various ways. These effects are not signs of weakness but natural responses to overwhelming experiences. They are reminders that our system is still trying to make sense of what happened.
Fear, avoidance, or feelings of powerlessness
Withdrawal and isolation from others and difficulty with interpersonal relationships
Low self-worth or self-esteem
Intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, and sleep disturbances
Heightened anxiety or other strong emotions & having a hard time calming down when upset
Physical symptoms such as chronic pain, migraines, gastrointestinal upset, etc
Difficulty trusting and opening up to others
Dissociation, numbing or loss of interest
How can therapy for trauma help?
Safe Exploration
Providing a supportive environment to discuss and process experiences without judgment or pressure.
Regulating Emotions and Calming the Nervous System
Trauma overwhelms the body, often leaving you feeling unsafe in your own skin. Therapy offers tools to gently calm the nervous system, helping you regain emotional stability and begin understanding fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses.
Processing and Integrating Past Experiences
Trauma is often stored in the body, creating discomfort and sensations tied to past events. Therapy helps you safely tolerate these sensations, freeing you from feeling “stuck” in the past.
Understanding the Narrative
Shifting from shame or self-blame to a perspective that recognizes the event as something that happened to you, not something that defines you.
Rebuilding Trust and Repairing Relationships
Rebuilding trust in yourself and others while fostering a renewed sense of control and agency in your life.
Breaking Free from Avoidance and Isolation
Feeling alone can be an incredibly painful experience and one we often try to avoid. Therapy offers a new opportunity for safe connection and undoing aloneness.
Restoring Self-Worth and Building Resilience
Empowering you to embrace your inherent value, develop healthier coping strategies, and encounter growth through the healing process.
Therapy for Trauma Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between stress and trauma?
Stress is a natural response to experiencing a stressor and is accompanied by an activation of the mind-body system. What is considered stressful is unique to each person. A stressful event can become a trauma when we feel overwhelmed and powerless. Trauma is often defined by how we experience the event and not by the event itself.
What are the common symptoms of PTSD?
Symptoms include flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, emotional numbness, hypervigilance, insomnia, chronic pain, dissociation, and difficulties in relationships. These are natural survival responses that may persist long after the trauma.
Is it possible for me to heal, or will I always feel this way?
Yes, healing is absolutely possible. The incredible resilience of our brains and bodies allows us to recover and adapt when we feel safe. With the support of an attuned therapist or caregiver, the safety that was missing during the traumatic experience can be recreated. This environment enables your brain and body to reprocess the sounds, images, sensations, and thoughts tied to the trauma. Over time, this helps shift your responses from survival modes like fight, flight, freeze, or fawn into a state of integration, connection, and healing.
What is neuroplasticity and how does it offer hope?
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s remarkable ability to adapt, reorganize, and create new connections throughout life. This means that even when past experiences have deeply impacted thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, the brain always has the capacity to heal and rewire.
How long will it take to feel better?
Recovery from trauma is a gradual, nonlinear process with ups and downs. While the timeline varies, many individuals work with me for 6 months to several years.
Can therapy help with physical symptoms of trauma, like chronic pain or fatigue?
Yes, therapy addresses the mind-body connection and can help alleviate physical symptoms linked to trauma by soothing the nervous system, processing stuck memories, and fostering healthier self-regulation.
Find out if working with a trauma therapist is right for you
You don’t have to go through this alone
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The Wisdom Of Your Body