Is Your Past Keeping You Stuck?
Do you notice you struggle to focus during the day due to distressing memories filling your mind? Are you experiencing dreams or nightmares that keep you from getting a good night’s rest? Do you feel haunted by past events?
Maybe you’ve stopped enjoying some of your favorite hobbies, perhaps due to having trouble focusing on them or just not feeling interested in them anymore. You are struggling to connect with other people because you worry that they just won’t understand your pain, or that they will hurt you in the same ways that others have. You may feel detached not only from the world around you, but also from yourself.
You’re probably feeling on edge, hypervigilant, constantly worried about what might be coming next. You feel restless and your mind and body can’t seem to be still. You think that you must always be on alert to guard yourself from any potential threats. You expect to be hurt again because you have been hurt in the past. You likely feel an impending sense of doom.
You may feel intense guilt and shame surrounding what has happened to you. You tend to judge yourself harshly for events that were out of your control. You may even be replaying the distressing events over and over in your mind, trying to think of what you could’ve done to change things or how your life might be different if they hadn’t happened. You avoid anything that reminds you of these events because you are exhausted by the distressing thoughts and feelings that come up.
All you want is to be able to stay present and safe in your daily life.
Although you cannot change what has happened to you in the past, you can move forward. Healing from trauma is a process that takes time and energy. With the help of an experienced trauma therapist you can learn to navigate trauma’s lasting impacts and find serenity.
In An Unpredictable World, It’s Hard Not to Be Affected By a Traumatic Event
A lot of times, life throws events at you that are beyond your control. In a world where violence, loss, illness, natural disasters, and various forms of abuse and neglect have become almost commonplace it’s rare that someone hasn’t experienced a stressful event. In fact, about 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced a traumatic event at some point in their lives.
Some of these events have a lasting, detrimental impact. Your emotional and physical response to these distressing events is called trauma. These responses might keep you from being productive at work, having fulfilling relationships with your friends and family, and enjoying hobbies and activities that you liked to do before the event occurred.
We often feel hopeless, desperate, afraid, on edge, and wonder if we'll ever be able to work through the pain of what happened to us. Friends and family might not understand why we are acting the way that we are, and expect us to “move on”, or “get over it”. In reality, however, healing from trauma is not that easy. But it is definitely possible through trauma focused counseling with the right therapist.
If you struggle with any of the issues above, know that you are not alone and help is available. At Be Your Best Self & Thrive Counseling, you can work with a caring trauma therapist to help you heal from your past. By engaging in trauma therapy in Florida, you can learn how trauma has impacted your body, mind, and spirit, access the tools you need to heal, and restore your health.
Therapy Focusing on Healing all Aspects of Trauma
You may be feeling overwhelmed at the thought of beginning the trauma healing process. We understand it can feel a little intimidating. And we want you to know that the holistic approach at Be Your Best Self & Thrive Counseling allows you to move at your own pace. Our team will empower you to make small, achievable changes that will help you overcome trauma’s impacts on your life so that you can reconnect to yourself and others with joy.
Our therapists take a compassionate, empathetic approach to understanding what you have been through and what changes you want to make in your life. We’ll work with you as a team to form a specific pathway to healing that best meets your needs. We will teach you specific strategies that fit your life and help you feel more in control of your emotions.
Our team uses a holistic treatment method to help you overcome the anxiety, guilt, and shame you may be experiencing and will empower you to make the changes in your life that you desire. Letting go of the emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that may be keeping you stuck in the past will give you the space to grow and change into someone that no longer feels constantly on edge.
The connection between your mind and your body is stronger than you may realize. When you have an emotion that leads you to flash back to your past trauma, you may experience an increased heart rate, difficulty sleeping or sitting still, or even sweating. By using tenets of somatic therapy, we’ll help you recognize where you hold trauma in your physical body and equip you with tools that allow you to regulate your nervous system during times of distress. We believe that the more efficient you become at being aware of the physical sensations present in your body and grounding yourself in the present moment, the easier it will be to make changes, such as adjusting your posture, that promote feelings of safety and peace.
In our work together, we may take a look at your past using a psychodynamic lens to help you gain insight into how your past trauma is impacting your current emotions, thoughts, and actions. We’ll dive deep into the root cause of your current symptoms to help you bring subconscious thoughts and emotions that are keeping you stuck to the surface so that you can consciously process them and learn to respond in a way that helps you to maintain a sense of serenity.
We may also use techniques from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) to help you heal.. As a result of the trauma you have experienced you probably find yourself having trouble regulating your emotions, remaining in the present moment, and having healthy and fulfilling relationships with others. Through DBT we’ll help you learn to identify emotions like anxiety, panic, and confusion that you may experience following a traumatic event. The more familiar and accepting you are with emotions that you may find distressing, the easier it will be for you to respond to these emotions in healthier ways.
Because you may find yourself blaming yourself for and feeling ashamed of the trauma you’ve experienced, we’ll incorporate Internal Family Systems (IFS) into our work to help you cultivate the self-compassion you need to heal from trauma. IFS is based on the idea that our conscious minds are made of several different “parts,” and each of these “parts” try to protect us in various ways. Sometimes, experiencing a traumatic event can cause our “parts” to conflict with one another, resulting in unhelpful behavior. IFS can help you to learn to heal from past trauma by helping you to learn coping strategies that are more helpful, and manage feelings of stress independently.
You can heal from trauma, and you don’t have to do it alone. We know that you have incredible strength and courage within you that you may not be able to recognize for yourself right now. We are excited to help you tap into that strength and courage so that you can live the life you desire.
We will encourage you and guide you through the healing process and help to remind you not to lose hope. Let the team at Be Your Best Self & Thrive empower you to flourish. Schedule a free consult with one of our St. Pete therapists today!
Perhaps you’re considering trauma counseling, but you have some concerns…
Trying to work through trauma isn’t worth my time, money, or energy.
Why should I talk about the past? I just want to move forward with my life.
Oftentimes our past experiences guide how we act in the present. Your past traumatic experiences may have taught you to think, act, and feel a certain way in order to protect yourself. When you can connect what happened to you in the past to self-defeating behaviors you might be engaging in now, you can better understand how to change them. While talking about the past might be painful, it can help to get guidance from a trained therapist as to how to learn from it moving forward.
Healing from trauma is possible. Change is often difficult and can be a lengthy process. It may seem easier to just give up hope and continue to engage in the same self-defeating behaviors, like substance use or withdrawing from friends and families, that you already use. Is avoiding addressing your trauma really worth giving up fulfilling relationships and self-compassion? While trauma counseling involves time and money, the investment in yourself and your happiness is worth it.
I should just be able to get over my trauma. If I go to trauma counseling I will feel weak.
Healing from trauma is not as simple as “getting over it”. Challenging beliefs about yourself and the world around you that the trauma has left behind can be very difficult to do alone. It is extremely important for anyone that has experienced trauma to have a skilled therapist help explore the impacts of trauma from a mind-body-spirit perspective and find the best strategies for you to use to find joy in your life again. Seeking out help does not make someone weak. Being vulnerable enough to seek out trauma-focused counseling shows incredible strength and courage.
Perhaps you’re considering trauma counseling, but you have some concerns…
Trying to work through trauma isn’t worth my time, money, or energy.
Healing from trauma is possible. Change is often difficult and can be a lengthy process. It may seem easier to just give up hope and continue to engage in the same self-defeating behaviors, like substance use or withdrawing from friends and families, that you already use. Is avoiding addressing your trauma really worth giving up fulfilling relationships and self-compassion? While trauma counseling involves time and money, the investment in yourself and your happiness is worth it.
Reclaim Your Joy and Zest for Life by Letting Go of Your Trauma
If trauma has left you feeling hopeless, on edge, or broken, holistic treatment at Be Your Best Self & Thrive Counseling can reharmonize your mind, body, and spirit. Begin trauma therapy in Florida with a specialized trauma therapist. Schedule a free consultation to ensure we are a good fit today!
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