Therapy for Trauma & Traumatic Grief
from the comfort of your homeLet’s be honest. Experiencing trauma really sucks.
A traumatic experience can shatter our entire sense of self and we often feel like the world is spiraling around us. We have trouble managing our emotions – out of nowhere, we’re anxious, afraid, sad, heartbroken, angry. We think we’re losing our mind. Thoughts, memories, and images can intrude into your mind whether you are asleep or awake. Our relationships begin to suffer.
Trauma doesn’t even have to be a huge and debilitating experience to completely disrupt our sense of self and where we fit into the world. We call these ‘little t’ traumas, and can still have a major impact on your life. These traumas can sometimes fly way under the radar until we shine a flashlight on them and realize just how much they’ve influenced us.
People in your life may not understand your trauma or loss has affected you and aren’t able to give you the emotional support you so desperately want and need. They might look like they have it all together and you’re over here feeling like you’re falling apart. Or maybe they are traumatized too, and you can’t talk with them without feeling like you have to “be strong” or “hold it together” for them. We know we’re tough people in Alaska, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need the support of others.
Whatever your trauma is, you probably feel alone and like your feelings are too big, too small, or somehow wrong.
I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone and you will survive, even if that doesn’t feel true right now. I’m here to give you the space to share the thoughts and feelings that you aren’t able to share with anyone else. You can learn how to calm and soothe your body and mind despite what you’ve experienced.
Together, we’ll find hope and purpose for your life. All from the comfort of your home.
Schedule your complimentary 15 minute consultation!
Check my profile on Psychology Today to see if I am accepting new clients by clicking HERE!
Therapy can help with many types of trauma
Childhood Traumas
Our experiences as children teach us who we are and how we fit into the world. When we are abused or neglected, we learn to adapt to a dysfunctional world. That adaptation may not be so useful anymore once we’re adults, but we haven’t been able to figure out how to change it yet. Therapy helps us rewrite that story and find a new way of being that is full of meaning.
Violence & Disasters
Whether we have made it to adulthood relatively safe from trauma or not, it doesn’t mean that we aren’t exposed to violence, natural disasters, or other traumas as adults. These traumas can reinforce our unhealthy coping mechanisms or completely overwhelm our healthy ways of managing emotional pain. Often the pain becomes most evidence once the dust has settled.
Traumatic Grief & Loss
Losing someone to suicide, overdoses, or violence can be especially isolating. Grieving these losses is full of really complicated feelings and too often we aren’t able to talk about these losses in the same way as natural deaths. Depression and PTSD often result from traumatic losses and our grieving process may need extra support so we can heal.
Relationship Trauma
Trauma can occur in relationships – betrayal, divorce, a partner’s substance use, or a shared trauma like the death of a child or exposure to violence. Therapy can help you to explore your own responses to trauma and learn how to find love, security, and connection to other people once again.
Discrimination & Stigma
Heterosexism, cissexism, sexism, racism, and any other form of discrimination based on who you are is a complex form of trauma. Hopeful Path Counseling accepts and embraces everyone for who they are without prejudice or judgment. This is a safe space to process how a hurtful world has made it hard to live fully and confidently as yourself.
Your experience is unique to you and cannot be compared to anyone else’s.
We’re going to work together in a way that is 100% individualized to you and your experiences. We’ll use whatever tools and strategies we need to so we can start moving forward. Whatever you bring to therapy, we can find a way to heal.
We can process trauma to reduce the intensity of what you experience in the present.
If you are experiencing depression, anxiety, or substance use, we can address that too.
Something else making your life even more unbearable? We’ll figure it out.
I’m here to help you make space for your story.
That’s right. We’re going to make space for it.
Your traumas and losses are part of who you are, but they do not define you. If you’ve tried to forget what you’ve experienced, you probably realized that it just doesn’t seem to work. We will instead find a way to respect how those experiences have affected you and find meaning and purpose for your future.
What makes me the counselor for you? I have spent years working with people that have experienced many different types of trauma and loss and I have had my own experiences that shaped the course of my life.
I believe that all healing occurs in the context of a relationship, so creating a space that you feel comfortable, validated, and supported is my #1 priority. I am also trained in a variety of treatments, so we can adapt our work together based on your needs. I would be honored to walk alongside you on your healing journey.
We can do amazing work together.
Recent Articles by Sarah about Trauma, Grief, and Counseling
Schedule your complimentary 15 minute consultation!
Check my profile on Psychology Today to see if I am accepting new clients by clicking HERE!