Heal, Grow, and Thrive Through Complex Trauma Therapy EMDR Therapy for PTSD and C-PTSD in TN

Complex Trauma Therapy| Complex Trauma Therapist in the Nashville TN area. | Heal, Grow, & Thrive

Feel Seen, Heard, and Validated in a Safe and Healing Space

Complex Trauma Therapist, Complex PTSD Therapist, Trauma-Focused Therapist, Trauma Therapy

The wounds and trauma from your past negatively impact your everyday life. You don’t feel safe. You don’t feel confident. You can’t connect to yourself or others. You feel sad, empty, alone, unsure of where to turn.

This is what it’s like to be stuck in the endless cycle of pain caused by complex trauma. But there is a way to move forward. You can find peace and joy, develop meaningful relationships, and live life as your true self.

You can heal.

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Types of Traumatic Experiences Requiring Trauma-Focused Therapy
You may not quite understand where your experiences fit into the complexities of trauma. It can be a bit overwhelming. Here is a brief explanation of the types of traumatic experiences you may have faced in your life:
  • Attachment trauma occurs when a caregiver does not provide the much-needed emotional, physical, and psychological care you need during childhood, disrupting the vital bonding process. This can cause you to feel unsafe both physically and emotionally, and can negatively impact future relationships.
  • Relational trauma refers to the negative effects of abuse, neglect, mistreatment, or abandonment within a relationship. Many times it happens in childhood, but it can actually occur in any relationship.
  • Developmental trauma refers to your brain’s development as a result of childhood stress responses like neglect or abuse. When you experience these types of childhood traumas, your brain’s development is affected in a way that can lead to the development of certain mental illnesses.
  • Complex trauma can encompass any or all of the above types of trauma. The negative, painful experiences you endure throughout your childhood or lifetime can lead to complex trauma and C-PTSD.
Trauma-Focused Therapy to Address All Forms of Complex Trauma

The attachment or relational wounds you endure are likely the result of repeated physical or emotional abuse, neglect, oppression, bullying, and/or abandonment by a caregiver or others you should have been able to trust as a child. But that doesn’t mean you can’t first experience complex trauma through hurtful, neglectful, and abusive relationships as an adult.

Through no fault of your own, the level of neglect, hurt, and pain you’ve experienced has severely affected your emotional development and experiences. In some cases, you may even experience symptoms of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD).

It’s heartbreaking when we have to face so many struggles due to neglect or the careless and abusive acts of others. The good news is that complex trauma therapy and complex PTSD therapy can help.

Symptoms of Complex Trauma

Living with complex trauma or C-PTSD profoundly affects every aspect of your life, even if you don’t realize it. When you struggle with complex trauma, your pain may manifest in several different ways, including the following: 

  • you struggle to control your emotions (emotional dysregulation)
  • you have difficulty with impulse control
  • you don’t trust the world, others, or even yourself
  • you struggle to form and maintain healthy relationships
  • you desire relationships but have an intense fear of abandonment
  • you avoid intimacy
  • you don’t think you’ll ever change or that your life will ever get better
  • you feel disconnected from everyone
  • you have low self-esteem to the point where you often have thoughts of suicide
  • you are uncertain of who you really are
  • you experience emotional flashbacks and states of emotion that don’t match current circumstances
  • you feel strongly that everyone should be completely self-sufficient
  • you have a strong need to be “perfect”
  • you put others first and neglect your own needs
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How Complex Trauma (PTSD, CPTSD, and EMDR) Therapy With Me Can Help You Find Strength, Empowerment, and Resilience

Rest assured, even if you don’t know where to begin in therapy, it can be a meaningful first step to finally living a life free from the shackles of your trauma wounds. Just the fact that therapy enables you to be heard, validated, and respected will help you feel less alone. When you tell your story in complex trauma therapy or complex PTSD therapy, you can finally unburden yourself. I receive everything you share with me with warmth, empathy, unconditional positive regard, and acceptance. I begin instilling hope in your future from the very first session. The long-term benefits of complex trauma therapy and complex PTSD therapy include the following:
  • reduced anxiety, panic, hypervigilance, and depression
  • improved self-regulation
  • increased sense of safety and security
  • reduced addiction and self-harming behaviors
  • enhanced self-esteem and feelings of self-worth
  • improved interpersonal relationships
  • relief from chronic conditions caused by trauma
  • improved sleep
  • the learning of new, healthier coping skills
Trauma-focused therapy helps you get to know your authentic self, explore your core beliefs and values, and finally find peace, joy, and life fulfillment.

What to Expect When From Trauma-Focused Therapy With Me

With me, you have a warm, empathetic, and inclusive ally in the battle to overcome your complex trauma. Along with my clinical expertise, you’ll benefit from my attention to detail and interactive approach.

While we may use many different therapeutic modalities in your sessions, one of the most effective evidence-based approaches is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR therapy). As an EMDR-trained therapist, I can help relieve your complex trauma symptoms and emotional distress caused by your painful life experiences.

EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment that involves:
  1. talking about your history
  2. preparing you for the session
  3. assessing target memories, feelings, and beliefs
  4. using eye movements or bilateral stimulation to process memories
  5. installing positive beliefs about yourself; replacing negative ones associated with your memories
  6. eliminating any remaining symptoms through further bilateral stimulation (body scanning)
  7. returning you to a safe, calm place as we near the end of our session
  8. making sure all aspects of your memories have been fully processed
EMDR therapy is unique in its approach, but it has been proven as a highly effective treatment for trauma. And, as always, I’ll be here with you every step of the way. You always have a voice in your healing journey – you will always feel seen, heard, and understood. Tailored specifically to your needs and goals, we’ll move through your sessions at a safe and comfortable pace. With that said, I will always gently encourage you to move toward change, growth, and healing. Your complex trauma therapy sessions with me are never passive. I consider partnering with you as your trauma therapist an honor and privilege. I will work hard to help you find your true self so you can live the healthy, happy, peaceful, and fulfilling life you deserve. The work we do together will positively impact the rest of your life. And while the journey can be challenging, I assure you, it’s worth it.

Steps to Working With Me

Partnering with me as your trauma therapist is simple. Your healing journey begins with one click of your mouse.

Contact Me

To begin your trauma-focused therapy journey, simply fill out the brief form on my contact page.

Schedule Your FREE Phone Consultation

Choose a convenient time to meet with me via phone to discuss your therapy goals and ask me any questions.

Begin Your Healing Journey

We’ll get to work helping you develop insights, coping skills, and empowerment, so you can start feeling better.
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Licensed Professional Counselor for Complex Trauma Therapy – PTSD,CPTSD, and EMDR, EMDR therapy in Brentwood.