Healing Trauma
Therapy for when it hurts… a lot.
Are you sick and tired of trauma running your life?
After all these years… after all you have done… it still defines you. It still delineates the outlines of your life – at least, the life that your past “allows” you to have.
It affects every area of your life: what you can do, where you can go, whom you can relate to, where you feel safe, how much time you have to devote to self-care… EVERYTHING.
You’re probably sick and tired of being so angry, so needy, so lost… so riddled with pain. But you certainly have no idea what to do about it.
I know these negative emotions are hard to bear, but what’s even worse is the confusion: confusion about what to do, where to get help, and whether healing is possible for you. The confusion leads to a kind of despair as you recognize that you have no way of feeling any different from the way you do.
So, if you’re angry, it’s understandable! And let’s face it: Pretending you’re NOT angry hasn’t helped you at all.
And to make matters worse, you know it’s not just about you. You know that what’s happened to you affects others around you, like your family and friends.
You’ve done so much to move on, but it’s all come up short.
You’ve taken so much advice, but it hasn’t put you on a better path. You may have taken the advice to leave relationships that are “bad” for you – only to end up even feeling more alone. You may have taken the advice to stay in a “good” relationship – only to end up feeling worthless.
You’ve learned “coping skills,” but you’ve also discovered how exhausting it is to keep track of those skills, remember to use them, and apply them consistently. It’s like trying to solve a puzzle that is different every single day.
You’ve tried to move on and just live your life. But how does that even make sense? What do you need to “move on” FROM? And how can you possibly just “live your life” when the chaotic nature of your symptoms is largely what DEFINES your life.
It feels like you can’t win… no matter what you do. If you turn right, it goes wrong… but a left turn doesn’t go any better. It’s all wrong, somehow. In fact, at times, you probably wonder whether YOU are what’s “all wrong.”
It’s easy to see why you just “shut down” to the pain.
You’ve probably tried to “stay up in your head” as far away as possible from your painful emotions. But it turns out that being shut down is painful all by itself.
Maybe you’ve heard something like this: “The only way out is through.” And perhaps you tried feeling the pain… only to be left in a worse place than before.
Because, for you, there IS no through… only this endless replay of painful thinking and feeling – like a broken record, endlessly looping through the same line of a song.
If you’ve tried therapy before, chances are…
It’s been too hard… too confrontational. It was probably hard to stomach.
How does therapy help if it makes today harder than it already is?
Or it’s taken too long.
When is this “healing” supposed to happen anyway? I feel like it’s years in the future!
Or it has been too gentle – without enough ‘oomph’ somehow.
I guess it feels a LITTLE better to talk about it, but it hasn’t done anything to change my day-to-day.
There is another way – a way that works.
When you’ve suffered through trauma, you need a special kind of therapy. It’s called Internal Family Systems (IFS), but don’t worry about the name. What’s important is that it will help you understand how different “parts” of yourself are driving the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors you’re looking desperately to change. Here’s how it’s different:
It’s gentler.
It’s extremely effective… without wiping you out.
It’s more transformational.
It will change you… but with ease… and with so much kindness, compassion, care, and love.
It’s faster.
Each session will help a little, but it’s the cumulative effect that’s even more impressive. Each session builds upon the last to get you results more quickly.
It comes with relational healing.
In other words, as you are healing yourself, your relationships will begin to be healed as well.
It’s self-directed.
It keeps your right to self-determination at the center of your life and recovery. This is about discovering your own wisdom!
Here’s what it looks like…
We’ll begin by looking at the part of you doing the most work to protect yourself.
If you’re trying to protect yourself by keeping bad things from happening, you’ll likely confront your anxiety right away.
If you’re trying to protect yourself by thinking your way through things, we’ll likely start by looking at those obsessive, analytical parts of you.
If you’re trying to protect yourself by self-soothing, we’ll likely need to get in touch with that part of you that pushes you to go shopping, watch TV, or use some mood-altering chemical.
You’ll then “listen” to the part of you that is struggling the most.
I’ll help you do this with a simple set of questions about yourself that you’ll definitely be able to answer.
This is the tool you need to get a deeper understanding of WHY you’re doing the things you’re doing.
And as those things begin to make more sense to you, the pain of not knowing why will start to lessen.
In fact, you will discover that there are no negative parts of you. You are innocent.
You’ll become more curious about yourself.
You’ll become more compassionate toward yourself.
You’ll become more accepting and gracious toward yourself and how you’ve responded to what you’ve gone through.
You’ll then begin to believe in the possibility of your healing.
And as you grow in this belief, you’ll gain more and more confidence in your ability to live a good life!
And life WILL get better as your symptoms ease up.
As your anxiety, obsessions, and addictions fade, you’ll have more space for peace, happiness, love, clear-thinking, and well-being.
And as you find yourself feeling better, really better, your confidence in the process will grow and take you forward to the next step. Like water running free and steady out to sea, your recovery will flow downhill, all on its own.
You may be concerned at this point that you have no idea how to do this, but please, don’t worry. No one coming into my office knows how to “listen to themselves.” How could you… when for so long you’ve been looking OUTSIDE yourself for something to help you feel better?
Again, don’t worry… it’s a very intuitive process, and in no time, you’ll start understanding yourself at a deeper level.
This may all seem to be too good to be true, BUT…
Please be cautious about that feeling. Trauma sufferers are particularly skilled at protecting themselves from YET ANOTHER disappointment. And one of the ways they do that is to set their expectations very low.
What if you, just in this one case, let yourself risk the possibility that you have inadvertently stumbled onto something that really can help. You’ve been looking for the answer everywhere – and what a disappointing search it’s been as you’ve discovered one thing after another that was NOT the answer.
But the good news about finding so many things that didn’t help is that it led you here… to this page… to real help.
Think about it: If we can be traumatized in an instant, can it not be equally possible that we can be healed in an instant?
Reach out today and get the care that you need and deserve. Call/text (316) 285-9441 or email echo@heartgps.net… whatever you like.