What Is Trauma?

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Empower Women Counseling is a dedicated practice focused on meeting the needs of women with complex and developmental trauma. Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental health condition that can develop in people who have experienced prolonged and repeated trauma, abandonment, or neglect, particularly in childhood (Pete Walker, 2023). Trauma is the emotional and psychological reaction to a negative event. According to Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing, trauma can be defined as experiencing fear in the face of helplessness (Heller, 2023). 

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Empower Women Counseling is committed to utilizing evidenced based bottom up approaches to treating trauma which get to the root of where the core wounding began, in the limbic system. Unlike traditional talk therapy approaches which utilize a top down or cognitive based model to treat trauma, a "bottom-up" approach to trauma therapy focuses on regulating the body's physical sensations and responses to trauma first, rather than directly addressing thoughts or memories (Trauma Therapist Network, 2024).  Bottom-up psychotherapy methods use the wisdom of the body’s sensations and movements to access the trauma that is held in our fascia or connective tissue. We do not have to have conscious memory of traumatic experiences to process and heal trauma using bottom-up therapy approaches.

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Examples of "bottom up" attachment focused trauma therapy approaches that Empower Women Counseling offers include:

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• EMDR

• Brainspotting

• Somatic/Body Based Interventions

• Parts work: Internal Family Systems/Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy

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What about childhood trauma?

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Empower Women Counseling is committed to providing evidence based treatment and trauma informed care through the use of therapy interventions such as EMDR, parts/inner child work, and somatic based interventions.  Our practice specializes in utilizing interventions to address childhood trauma and deep attachment wounding. Attachment wounding takes place when emotional needs are not met well in childhood. This can develop when a parent or primary care giver struggles to soothe, encourage, or show up emotionally for a child (DNMS, 2023). Consequently, children with attachment wounding can grow up with difficulties trusting others, managing their emotions, and  feeling emotionally safe in relationships. Empower Women Counseling utilizes trauma informed attachment focused interventions as an effective way to heal developmental trauma while promoting emotion regulation. 

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If you are interested in determining if you are a good candidate for trauma therapy please reach out to schedule an intake appointment.

 

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