In-Person & Online Trauma Therapy in Colorado
Trauma Therapy
Support for overwhelming experiences, healing, and moving through grief.
Understand the patterns that helped you survive, process what still feels unresolved, and build a greater sense of safety within yourself and your relationships.
Trauma does not
always look the
way people expect.
Some people know exactly which experience brought them to therapy. Others struggle to identify a single event but recognize that they have spent years feeling unsafe, disconnected, emotionally overwhelmed, or unable to fully relax around other people.
HOW TRAUMA CAN SHOW UP
Emotionally:
Anxiety or a persistent sense of danger
Shame, guilt, or harsh self-criticism
Emotional numbness
Irritability or anger
Internally:
Feeling easily overwhelmed
Difficulty identifying emotions
Depression or hopelessness
Feeling detached from yourself
Relationally:
Difficulty trusting people
Fear of abandonment or rejection
Pulling away when closeness feels vulnerable
Repeated conflict patterns
Through Protection:
People-pleasing
Difficulty setting boundaries
Feeling responsible for others
Expecting criticism or betrayal
These responses are not signs that you are broken. They often began as ways of managing experiences that felt overwhelming, unsafe, unpredictable, or emotionally painful.
Trauma can come from what happened, but also from what was repeatedly missing.
Trauma can come from one clear event, but it can also build over time through painful relationships. A person may be hurt by abuse, but also by ongoing neglect, change, distance, shame, or not feeling safe and cared for.
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Accidents, assault, sudden loss, medical experiences, frightening events, or other moments that overwhelmed your ability to cope.
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Experiences of betrayal, abuse, manipulation, rejection, abandonment, or repeated emotional harm within important relationships.
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Growing up without feeling safe, understood, protected, or supported, and without the freedom to become your own person.
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Family conflict, estrangement, unpredictable caregiving, parentification, criticism, emotional cutoff, or relationships in which closeness did not feel safe.
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Long periods of instability, caregiving strain, bullying, discrimination, high-conflict environments, or repeated experiences of helplessness.
How does trauma affect relationships?
Trauma can change how people see closeness, conflict, trust, and safety. Someone may really want connection, while another part of them fears being hurt, controlled, rejected, or left.
Moving toward others
You may spend a lot of energy trying to stay close to others, avoid conflict, predict how they will react, or prove that you deserve love and care.
Becoming overwhelmed during conflict
A disagreement may bring up strong fear, anger, panic, shutting down, getting defensive, or wanting to get away. These feelings may seem much bigger than what is happening right now.
Moving away from others
You may pull away, shut down, avoid relying on others, or feel trapped when someone wants to get closer.
Losing connection with yourself
You may pay so much attention to other people’s feelings and needs that it becomes hard to know what you feel, need, believe, or want.
Therapy can help you understand these patterns without making them your whole identity. The goal is not to get rid of every way you protect yourself. It is to help you choose when those responses are helpful and when they are getting in the way of the life and relationships you want.
Trauma therapy is not only about talking repeatedly through what happened. It may also involve increasing your capacity to stay present, understand your nervous system and protective responses, process specific memories, strengthen boundaries, and develop new ways of relating to yourself and others.
What Can Trauma Therapy Help With?
Emotions
Upsetting memories or reminders
Emotional dysregulation
Experiencing constant tension
Difficulty sleeping or relaxing
Feeling emotionally disconnected
Relationships
Fear of vulnerability
Attachment wounds
Boundary difficulties
Relationship conflict
Difficulty trusting or depending on others
Self-Worth and Shame
Shame and negative beliefs about yourself
Avoidance
Difficulty experiencing pleasure, meaning, or connection
Disconnection from your body
Feeling unsure of your needs and identity
Grief and Loss
Grief and unresolved loss
Family estrangement
Loss of safety, trust, or belonging
Grief for the childhood or relationships you needed
Loneliness and disconnection
Trauma therapy should not feel like you’re being pushed.
Healing does not require sharing every detail, reliving every painful experience, or moving faster than your nervous system can handle. Therapy can move at a pace that respects both your goals and the parts of you that may still need safety and protection.
You don’t need to know exactly where to begin
What Trauma Therapy Can
Look Like
Trauma therapy can look different for each person. We may start by helping you feel safer, more grounded, and more able to handle strong emotions. Over time, we can explore painful memories, beliefs, and relationship patterns at a pace that feels manageable. You will not be pushed to share more than you are ready for. The goal is to help you understand what happened, feel more in control, and build a life that feels safer and more connected.
1
Building Safety and Understanding
Clarify your goals, understand current symptoms and triggers, and identify the strengths and coping strategies that have helped you survive.
2
Understanding Protective
Patterns
Explore the beliefs, relationship patterns, emotional responses, and survival strategies that developed around difficult experiences.
3
Processing Unresolved Experiences
When you feel adequately prepared, we may use EMDR, IFS, attachment-focused work, or other approaches to work with experiences that still feel emotionally charged.
4
Making
New
Connections
Practice new ways of relating to yourself and others, setting boundaries, communicating needs, and creating more room for meaning, pleasure, and connection.
Trauma therapy can bring up a lot of questions, especially if you are unsure whether your experiences “count” as trauma or worried that therapy will move too quickly. Here are a few things people often want to understand before beginning.
Common Questions about Trauma Therapy
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No, some people have PTSD, but many do not. You may still be affected by painful events, stress, neglect, or unsafe relationships. Therapy can help you understand what is happening without having to decide on a diagnosis.
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Definitely not! You get to choose what you share and when you share it. You do not have to tell every detail, in fact we won’t do that as research has shown that is not helpful. We will move at a pace that feels safe and comfortable.
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Yes. I may use EMDR when it is a good fit for you. We will first make sure you feel ready and have ways to stay grounded. EMDR is one part of how I work with trauma.
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That’s okay, that’s really normal! You don’t need to remember everything to begin therapy. Memory shows up in a lot of ways and we can work with the feelings, body reactions, beliefs, and relationship patterns you notice now.
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Absolutely. Trauma can make it hard to trust, feel safe, set limits, talk openly, or stay calm during conflict. Therapy can help you understand these patterns and build healthier ways of connecting.
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Yes, trauma and family estrangement can be connected. Therapy can help you work through painful memories, set boundaries, decide what kind of contact feels safe, and understand how the estrangement affects you.
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I offer online therapy throughout Colorado and in-person therapy in Broomfield and Erie. We can talk about which option would work best for you.
You don’t have to carry this alone.
Trauma therapy can help you make sense of what happened, understand the patterns that followed, and build a life that is shaped by more than survival. We can begin with a consultation to discuss what you are experiencing and whether my approach feels like a good fit.