Trauma Therapy
In-person and online trauma counseling in Ohio
Having Trouble Holding Onto Feelings Of Safety And Security?
Do you experience physical sensations like muscle tension, shortness of breath, or a racing heart—even when you’re not in immediate danger?
Is it difficult for you to feel safe and trusting of others?
Are you constantly reminded of difficult memories or experiences through nightmares, flashbacks, and a general sense of unease?
A lot of people seeking therapy feel uncomfortable and emotionally dysregulated, yet they don’t know why. They just know they’re living in survival mode—getting by but not really feeling safe, secure, healthy, and fulfilled.
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Is A Distressing Experience From Your Past Affecting The Way You Engage With The World?
When we experience something in our lives that makes us question our sense of security and control, it can have a lasting impact. Whether or not we’re aware of it, we carry these experiences with us into our relationships, routines, and everyday lives.
If you’re struggling with seemingly chronic symptoms of anxiety, overwhelm, and a lack of safety, you are not alone. While it can be difficult to connect and reach out for help when it takes everything just to keep your head above water, therapy gives you the space to explore what’s really going on beneath the surface so you can begin to heal.
You May Be Struggling With Unresolved Trauma
These days, there’s a lot of talk about “trauma.” It’s become a buzzword, and with it comes a lot of stigma and misunderstanding. Though the term “trauma” is typically associated with critical, life-altering experiences, the truth is that trauma exists on a spectrum and is entirely subjective based on the person who survives it. Trauma can result from any experience in which our sense of safety, security, and well-being is put at risk.
Examples may include (but are not limited to) instances of assault, abuse, neglect, bullying, and racially based microaggressions. And symptoms of post-traumatic stress will vary based on factors like background, mental health history, and existing coping skills.
Many People Minimize Their Trauma Or Develop Negative Self-Beliefs As A Result Of Their Traumatic Experiences
Trauma has a way of showing up in relationships. That’s why you may feel untrusting, isolated, and irritable around others. You are probably the person who’s used to keeping it all together, so you may struggle with feelings of guilt, shame, or self-blame when seeking validation or support.
For a lot of people struggling with the ongoing effects of trauma, they don’t feel seen in media depictions of trauma or the cultural discussion around it. They also develop the belief that what happened isn’t “that bad” or related to how they feel right now. But living this way only reinforces the cycle of trauma and PTSD.
Our therapists are trained in trauma-informed approaches that get to the core of how you feel and why. Using safe, gentle, and effective techniques that target the nervous system, we can help rewire your brain toward feelings of peace and safety.
Therapy For Trauma And PTSD Through The Lake Erie Center For Relationship Counseling
Therapy is a blend of skills-building, fostering insights, and psychoeducation about trauma. We start slow and go at your pace, individualizing the process to your needs and comfort level. Our approach blends somatic (body-based) interventions, grounding techniques, and behavioral therapies like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
We also have therapists trained in the highly effective, trauma-specific, and relatively nonverbal method of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which is safe for our adult clients to use. You can read more about this therapy and its relationship with trauma on our EMDR page.
What To Expect
A big aspect of trauma-informed therapy is tracing your core beliefs back to their roots. As you learn more about how trauma affects the brain and your way of moving through the world, your therapist will help you map out a timeline of where trauma has occurred and how it has shown up in your life, particularly in how you see yourself and your abilities.
From there, we will begin to build your skill set for coping and regulation. You will learn how to tolerate and manage distress in real time, increasing your flexibility. Through this process, you will gain the tools to reframe your thoughts and identify where they need to be validated or challenged. And as you sort through your feelings, you will develop awareness around your stressors, moods, and necessary boundaries.
Recovery is real and tangible. With the right combination of nurturing skills and incorporating body-based approaches like EMDR, you can learn how to put distressing experiences behind you once and for all. You never deserved the pain of trauma in the first place—but through therapy, you can ensure that you won’t feel stuck in it forever.
Common Concerns About Trauma Treatment
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Yes, and in fact, therapy is one of the most effective treatments for trauma survivors of all backgrounds and experiences. Whether trauma has shown up as stress, anxiety, a lack of motivation, or disconnection in your relationships, the counseling process is designed to move at your pace and with your specific goals in mind.
Furthermore, at The Lake Erie Center for Relationship Counseling, we have therapists trained in the revolutionary technique of EMDR, which was specifically developed as a treatment for trauma and PTSD. Online EMDR therapy is shown to have an incredibly high success rate among trauma survivors, in some cases permanently resolving acute symptoms.
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Ideally, therapy is a process that helps you feel better over time as you implement the skills and insights you gain along the way. It’s important to us that you feel like this experience is healing and productive, with the goal of providing you with tools you can use for life.
While many clients begin to experience improvement within a few months of talk therapy, one of the benefits of EMDR is that it works relatively quickly. As a structured, 8-phase treatment, many clients only need 1 to 3 sessions to neutralize a distressing memory.
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It can be frustrating to not get the results you want from counseling, especially as the trauma cycle impacts your mood, relationships, and routine on a regular basis. We aim to individualize the therapy process as much as possible so that you can experience real, lasting change.
We also use one of the most effective treatments proven to treat trauma and PTSD—and that is EMDR. EMDR targets unresolved trauma that’s stored within the nervous system, so it helps resolve emotional, relational, and physical symptoms in a lasting way.
Pain Doesn’t Have To Be Permanent
The Lake Erie Center for Relationship Counseling offers EMDR and other trauma-informed approaches in therapy to help clients overcome distress, discomfort, and disconnection. For more information or to get started with one of our therapists, contact us.