Trauma

When to talk about it

It can feel scary to think you have to talk about your past.  Trauma therapy is like painting a room.  You spend more time prepping for the paint job: moving the furniture, putting down plastic, taping the trim, and then priming the walls- all before the new beautiful color.  Trauma therapy is the same; it takes time to be ready to talk about it and "paint the room."

Safety

Trauma is the rupture of an attachment.  Which means trusting in any relationship feels impossible. Therapy to support trauma is about creating feelings of safety in the therapeutic relationship, which can then ripple into other relationships in your life.

Disconnection

Often, our response to trauma makes us feel disconnected from our bodies, relationships and life.  Dissociation is the fancy name for this disconnection.  Dissociation refers to a range of responses from common daydreaming all the way up to and including separate but distinct personalities.

Dissociation is one way our brain is trying to protect us, to compartmentalize the pain, hurt and fear from what we experienced.  On the other hand, it can make life harder to manage when it doesn't feel real.