“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”
— Carl Jung
Healing from Trauma
Trauma Therapy & PTSD Treatment in Los Angeles, CA
Trauma can develop due to any situation that causes a physical or emotional threat. Research tells us that half of people will experience a trauma throughout their lifetime and that women in particular are twice as likely to develop PTSD. Trauma is often associated with war, natural disasters, and large-scale violence. It can also develop from daily exposure to verbal and emotional violence in the home or through more covert forms of oppression (e.g., microaggressions) that lead to feelings of unsafety.
Other Ways We Experience Trauma
Verbal abuse and threats
Surgical complications
Miscarriage, stillbrith, or neonatal death
Severe illness or injury
Experiencing threat of violence
Losing someone to suicide
Sexual abuse or molestation
Physical abuse
Exposure to natural disasters
Community violence
Grief/separation
School violence/bullying
Near death experiences
Systemic oppression (e.g., racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, fatphobia)
Childhood neglect or endangerment
Trauma Therapy and PTSD Treatment at Worth and Wellness Psychology can help you create real change.
PTSD Treatment & Trauma Therapy Can Help in the Following Areas:
Avoidance
You have difficulty thinking about the trauma.
You start to avoid people, places, or activities that bring up reminders of the event.
Changes in Thoughts and Mood
You don’t trust yourself, others, or the world.
Your viewpoint may shift to thinking things like, “of course that would happen to me, I can’t trust myself to choose a healthy partner, or people just don’t care about each other.”
The future may feel hopeless.
Your memory feels a little fuzzy, especially for details of the traumatic event.
You feel detached from your family and friends.
The things you used to like just don’t hold the same level of interest for you.
You feel numb.
Positive emotions feel foreign or uncomfortable.
Changes in Physical and Emotional Reactions
You have a hard time sleeping.
It feels like you are on edge - as if you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.
You experience anger, frustration, or rage.
You are filled with guilt, shame, and self-blame.
Trauma & PTSD in Women
Women are at an increased risk of experiencing childhood trauma and interpersonal trauma throughout their lifetimes. Survivors often reflect on their experiences with a sense of self-blame. This can be reinforced by societal messages around all the “shoulds and shouldn’t haves.” Trauma can also be met by well-intentioned family and friends telling you how brave you are, that you’re doing so well, that you’re better than ever, or that it could have been worse. In a society that praises women for being selfless, trauma can often be overlooked or minimized.
Your Body and Trauma
Many survivors struggle with feelings of body betrayal following a trauma. Sometimes our body may produce a fight or flight response during a traumatic event, either helping us to either flee or to say ‘no’ and fight back, advocate for ourselves, or to draw attention to the situation. At times, our body goes into freeze mode as a means of minimizing violence or harm. Many women who go through a trauma who experience the freeze response, struggle with feelings of shame, self-blame, and distance or disgust with their own bodies for not, “doing the right thing.” Trauma Therapy can help you address these thoughts, increase kindness towards your experience, and create a different relationship with your body.
Intergenerational Trauma
Intergenerational Trauma can occur when we are continuously exposed to toxic coping patterns that are carried across generations. It could be patterns of numbing emotions (e.g., alcoholism, drug overuse or abuse, or gambling), communication stressors (e.g., passive aggressive comments, verbal abuse, name-calling), or distancing tactics (e.g., black-listing family members, isolating during the holidays, cutting off contact with family).
Intergenerational trauma takes one generation to ask: Where did this come from? How is this serving us? What can we do to shift this pattern? If you want to shift those old patterns and create a new way of relating to yourself and others, you can be the generation to create a new future.
Types of PTSD Treatment
There are a number of evidence-based approaches for addressing trauma and PTSD. While it may seem overwhelming at first, this just means that you have options for finding the right fit. Talk to a Trauma Therapist to see what approach might work for you.
At Worth and Wellness Psychology, trauma therapy and PTSD treatment can include any of the following approaches depending on your unique needs:
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Prolonged Exposure (PE)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)
Emotion-Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)
CBT for Insomnia (CBT-I)
Mindfulness-based interventions
Starting PTSD Treatment can feel like a scary and vulnerable step. My role is to help empower you as you take those steps. Together, we’ll collaborate as you build the tools you need to dive into the harder work. If you’re feeling ready and want more support or even if you’re just curious, I’d love to meet with you for a free 30-minute consultation to share a bit about my approach and to see what would be the best fit for you.
Start PTSD Treatment & Trauma Therapy
in Los Angeles, CA
Other Counseling Services I Offer in Los Angeles, CA
At Worth and Wellness Psychology you will be supported and empowered as you start trauma therapy. While it can feel overwhelming to reach out for help I am here to support you as you start getting past your past. Get started in PTSD treatment by following these steps:
Reach out for a free consultation
Schedule your first appointment with a trauma therapist
Learn the tools you need to start feeling better
At Worth and Wellness Psychology, I offer in-person therapy in Los Angeles and online throughout California. This includes individual therapy for relationship issues, dating, and anxiety. In addition to therapy for therapists women of color, and Highly Sensitive People. Reach out to learn more about how I can support you.