Trauma Growth Counseling for women in Pueblo and across Colorado
It's possible to break free from the binds of your past
You have been living under a dark cloud for so long, always looking over your shoulder for something bad to happen. It feels like you must always be on alert and ready. You startle easily and you frequently experience your palms sweating in situations that shouldn't be stressful. You sleep lightly, never "fully"... no use falling asleep anyway as when you do, you have nightmares. You have difficulty feeling. Or, you feel too much, too strongly. Either way, you live with the fear of "losing it" when it comes to emotions. Anger, sadness, pain, happiness and joy - nope - need to keep those all safely under wraps.
As a result, you feel exhausted. You can never fully relax - your body won't allow it. Your moods are a bit unstable and you are irritable. It is hard to fully concentrate.
You have never been optimistic. You wonder if you can ever lead a "normal" life with a healthy relationship and enjoy vacations. So you read a lot of self help books or listen to self growth podcasts to try to overcome the dark binds that keep pulling you back from experiencing "normal" or even just a few moments of peace....
It is not your fault that you are struggling.
You are not alone....
There IS hope!
Your strength to survive is also your key to thrive.
Together, we can work through the steps, one small and manageable step at a time.
Within a safe and open space, we will work together to apply new tools, explore and air out darker corners, and work on reforming your thought system to reclaim disconnected parts for a stronger and cohesive YOU. We’ll work from a strengths-based approach to optimize your natural strengths (and believe me, just being here proves you have them!) to integrate new thought patterns to replace some of the negative voices that hold you back and stunt forward progress. I pull from a variety of methods, including visualization and mindfulness practices. In some cases, I will utilize EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to assist you in being able to move past intrusive memories and resulting thought patterns from past negative or traumatic experiences. EMDR helps you reprocess the impact of negative incidents in your past from a new perspective that replaces guilt, shame and helplessness with a new sense of empowerment. This is the way to move forward into trauma growth. Trauma growth is about how to view negative experiences from a perspective of growing forward, taking the hurts from the past and turning them into strengths for forward movement.
On the path of reprocessing and experiencing trauma growth, you will learn:
-
mindfulness practices & healthy coping skills
-
how to consciously relax your body
-
how to recognize when you are falling into a self-defeating thought flow and how to change the direction of your thoughts to a healthier pattern
-
how to subdue and manage anxiety
-
how to improve relationships with communication style awareness
-
how to feel and express your emotions in ways most appropriate for you
-
how to be gentle and forgiving with yourself, to take loving care of yourself – without feeling selfish or guilty
A Few FAQ's:
Q: I don't remember or want to re-live through my past traumas. Do I have to re-experience my past traumas in order to move forward?
A: With EMDR, it is not necessary to relive past negative experiences; we only examine the resulting beliefs from the memory of the worst pictures or thoughts still being carried in your mind and body.
Q: Can EMDR therapy be done online?
A: Yes. While EMDR generally involves eye movement, that is not the only way to reprocess traumatic events. The butterfly hug taps can be used as well as other self stimulation techniques that stimulates both sides of the brain. Additionally, for those who prefer eye movement techniques, there are programs online that allows eye movement that the therapist can control for the client.
Q: Who is EMDR therapy for?
A: While EMDR therapy is typically used to help individuals with reprocessing traumatic or negative events in their past, it can also be used for processing through addictions and negative habits. If this is an interest for you, you can ask your therapist if it is offered within the realm of services. If beneficial, I can also offer this process for you.