Trauma Therapy

Most of us have experienced some form of trauma in our life, yet trauma can present in different ways for each person. It is not defined by the nature of the event, but your perception of it. Whether it is a single incident or a prolonged exposure to abuse or neglect, traumatic experiences will leave you feeling unsafe, emotionally out of control or paralyzed. You might no longer trust people and you might be stuck in negative patterns of thinking and feeling, making hope difficult to sustain. The long-term effects of unaddressed trauma can affect your overall health, your sense of self and impact your capacity to maintain healthy relationships.

The process of healing can be different for each person, but restoring trust in relationships is essential. The counseling relationship is key to developing the capacities necessary to heal, restore self-esteem, and establish healthy, mutual and non-traumatizing relationships.

Our approach to trauma combines cognitive and behavioral approaches. But at the core of our treatment is a mind-body approach that helps release traumatic memories though a somatic rewiring that restores a healthy balanced nervous system.

Trauma shatters our worldview by removing our sense of safety. Trauma therapy rebuilds connections by finding a safe home within ourselves.

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What is our approach
to treating trauma?

Most traditional therapeutic approaches rely on cognitive work, with a focus on how thoughts influence emotions and behaviors. These strategies neglect to see that our previous experiences can sometimes get “stored” in our bodies, repeating fight/flight/freeze cycles that generate negative symptoms and patterns of behaviors.

At Soleil Psychotherapy, we approach trauma through a somatic lens. We are trained in Somatic Experiencing and mindfulness approaches as developed in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

We offer a framework that helps assess where you might be “stuck” in “fight, flight, freeze” responses, and we provide strategies that will help you complete these survival responses. The goal of treatment will be to resolve these fixated states that prevent you from experiencing safety, hope and trust in relationships.

Our approach
to trauma emphasizes

☼ The connection between the mind and the body

☼ The connection between the person and the environment

☼ That trauma is an underlying cause of disease

☼ That the body influences thoughts, emotions, and behaviors

What to expect?

An emphasis on “biology” vs “biography.”

We will help you rewrite your narrative through somatic release, by becoming aware of your body sensations and procedural memories that store trauma. Your body will be our primary tool to help communicate and give us information about your experiences. Through gentle inquiries, compassion and curiosity we will break patterns of fear, lack of safety and begin to develop healthier patterns of connecting with oneself and others.

We will target underlying dysregulation in the nervous system that causes symptoms and help you improve your body awareness to increase physiological regulation.

We work in a slow and gentle way that does not overwhelm you emotionally and physiologically. The goal is to help re-establish the natural ability of the nervous system to shift between activation and deactivation.

The ultimate objective of trauma therapy will be to help you discover and empower your innate strengths and resiliency; you will free yourself from your past by engaging fully in a meaningful life by finding a safe home within yourself and your environment.