Trauma

Dr. Benson and her team offer treatment for Trauma  We utilize psychodynamic models of treatment to address traumatic histories.  We are interested in assisting you to heal long standing internal issues that have been holding you back in your life.


What Is Trauma?

Trauma is the experience of severe psychological distress following any terrible or life-threatening event. Sufferers may develop emotional disturbances such as extreme anxiety, anger, sadness, survivor’s guilt, or PTSD. They may experience ongoing problems with sleep or physical pain, encounter turbulence in their personal and professional relationships, and feel a diminished sense of self-worth due to the overwhelming amount of stress.


Understanding Trauma

Trauma is complex.  It is painful.  It is sneaky.  

We often think of trauma very simplistically: ABUSE.  

The reality is, however, that trauma comes in many forms.  And, when we experience any one of these forms, it can cause emotional dysregulation which can lead to behavior changes, mental health struggles, and more.

Dr. Benson believes that until you heal the emotional pain caused by trauma, our emotional response system will be unable to operate in a healthy manner.

While there are many forms of Trauma, the definition of it can be simplified to:

Any event we experience that causes pain.

If you are in any kind of emotional pain, something caused it. 

Some examples of trauma include (but, are certainly not limited to):

  • Early Childhood & Adolescent Trauma: Trauma experienced during developmentally critical ages.
  • Traumatic Grief: Death of someone close to us; also can include grief and loss issues surrounding people, places, or things.
  • Bullying: Emotional and physical harm can be caused from the deliberate and unsolicited actions of others.  
  • Terrorism, Community Trauma, & Mass Violence: May include trauma inflected from shootings, fires, weather devastation, acts of God, and/or other types of attacks.
  • Intimate Partner Violence: Harm or threats inflicted by current or past partners.
  • Medical Trauma: Any negative experience relating to caring for your medical needs, such as procedure malpractice, chronic illness & fatigue, and more.
  • Abuse: any type of physical or emotional/mental injury caused by another individual.
  • War and/or Refugee Trauma: Persecution, abandonment, and violence are just a few examples of trauma experienced from such events.
  • First Responder Trauma: Exposure (including continued exposure) to highly emotional, graphic, and violent events can cause traumatic response.
  • Change of Life Events: Can include trauma experienced from divorce, job loss, financial devastation, and more.

Healing from Trauma

Until you address the cause of your pain, you cannot heal from it.  When left untreated, this can cause a wide variety of issues in life.  Healing starts with un-covering, understanding, and un-shaming our experiences which shaped development, boundaries, and emotional response. 

“I’ve never experienced any trauma.”

“I already know what I’ve been through and reliving it won’t help.”

“I just want to stop (fill in the blank), not sit around talking about my past.”

“I’ve blocked out my past, and bringing it back up will only make things worse.”

These are all things we commonly say to ourselves.  They are also misunderstandings.  Trauma is evasive and we often think because we did not experience what society has deemed as “painful enough,” that our pain is not “bad enough.” 

That’s simply untrue.  Again, if you are in pain, there is a reason.


LOCATION

Availability

Primary

Monday:

8:00 am - 8:00 pm By Appointment Only

Tuesday:

8:00 am - 8:00 pm By Appointment Only

Wednesday:

8:00 am - 8:00 pm By Appointment Only

Thursday:

8:00 am - 8:00 pm By Appointment Only

Friday:

8:00 am - 8:00 pm By Appointment Only

Saturday:

Closed

Sunday:

Closed

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