How do I know if I have trauma?

Trauma can lead us to feeling out of control with our emotions, reactive, insecure, and afraid even when there is sometimes no reason to feel those ways.

You might be experiencing trauma-related symptoms if you:

• Have gone through a life threatening experience or witnessed someone going through one

• Are constantly afraid of losing your relationship or being left

• Frequently experience intrusive thoughts about a past life experience in which you felt threatened or frightened

• Are convinced that your feelings are just too big or too much for someone and will ultimately push them away

• Worry that you won’t be able to escape your past and that you will bring your past into your present relationships

• Harbor a secret fear that you are doomed and incapable of having a happy and healthy relationship?

therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD)

Are you in a new and promising relationship and don’t want past issues to come up and interfere? Have you been been cheated on, physically or emotionally abused, or betrayed in the past causing you to have trust issues in your current relationship? Have you had some pretty bad relationships in the past and put up with a lot from undeserving partners? A lot of clients come to therapy at Root to Rise having found a new partner who they are really excited about, and are afraid that they will drive away the best relationship they’ve ever had.

We also have many clients seek out Trauma Therapy for PTSD at Root to Rise who grew up in a traumatic environment or had a parent with addiction or mental illness. You might have learned from a young age that expressing your feelings doesn’t get you anywhere good-- it may have even led to you being abused--either emotionally or physically. Or it may just have fallen flat and resulted in your feeling lonely, neglected and ashamed for having feelings at all.

While traumatic symptoms can be uncomfortable and frightening, the great news it that Trauma Therapy and EMDR are proven methods to help break free from symptoms of PTSD and other traumatic experiences that keep us stuck in maladaptive, outdated modes of behavior.

What is EMDR and how does it work?

When we experience distressing events, our mind and body get locked and our neural networks freeze. EMDR treatment accesses memories stored in the reptilian or "lizard" brain where trauma is stuck, and moves these memories into the neocortex, the verbal and logical part of the brain. By bringing online parts of the brain that were frozen during the distressing experience you will be able to:

• Allow new information to come through so that you can create a more cohesive, adaptive story.

• Gain access to your full range of intrinsic skills to move beyond these stuck stories.

After EMDR Therapy, our clients describe traumatic memories as seeming:

• "Far away" or "distant" rather than highly charged and upsetting.

• They report feeling more present in their body and mind

• They feel more compassionate towards themselves:

• They are more confident and trust in their ability to resolve issues on their own.

integrating mindfulness with emdr and trauma therapy for ptsd

The type of EMDR treatment that we practice also emphasizes Mindfulness which involves teaching and practicing mindfulness meditation, relaxation exercises, guided imagery and breath-work so that you can build an accessible toolbox of coping skills to use daily as well as during specific triggering situations.

Learn more about EMDR on our blog:

What is EMDR?

Is EMDR For Me?

What Are You Noticing Now?