Trauma
Trauma results from exposure to an emotionally distressing or life-threatening incident(s). It produces long-lasting effects on someone’s mental, physical, social, emotional, and/or spiritual well-being.
If you’ve experienced a challenging life event or series of events that have impacted your life in a negative way, then we consider that to be trauma. Trauma can be a single incident or repeated and ongoing and it can come in many different forms. No one experiences trauma in the same way. Everyone has a story to tell, and we are here for you to hear yours when you are ready to share it.
Some of these traumatic experiences might include:
Physical, sexual, verbal, spiritual, and emotional abuse
Childhood neglect
Living with a family member with mental health or a substance use disorder
Sudden, unexplained separation from a loved one
Racism
Violence in your community
Accidents- like a car wreck
Natural disasters
Perhaps the traumas we have mentioned are different than your past experiences. These are just some examples of trauma; the significant life event that has negatively impacted your life also matters. What you experience is important. You are welcomed here.
The Wake of Trauma
Your body and mind often respond in ways that are meant to protect you from further harm. While this is totally understandable, it may be making it challenging for you to go about your day-to-day life and interact with others in a positive way. Perhaps, your relationships with the people you love are suffering because you’re struggling to feel safe and secure. Or, you’ve noticed that you’re having a harder time concentrating and focusing on your responsibilities because you’re consumed with thoughts of the past. Maybe, the flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, anxiety, depression, and anger have become too much to cope with on your own.
Perhaps, you’re not sure how to label the event that’s causing your distress. Maybe it was trauma, maybe it wasn’t. You may even be wary of labeling it because you don’t want to carry the weight of that label. Or maybe, you don’t even fully remember what happened, but you’re having nightmares, flashbacks, and other PTSD-like symptoms and want answers.
These are all common trauma reactions that we see at our Dallas, TX counseling office. Perhaps, you can relate, or maybe you’ve had a totally different experience. Whatever your story is, know that we are here to help you. You can experience hope here.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is a long-term medical diagnosis that is the result of experiencing trauma or a series of traumatic events. It’s important to note that not everyone who experienced trauma will develop PTSD. PTSD is chronic, meaning it can last long after the event occurred.
Common Symptoms of PTSD include:
Poor emotional control
Irritability
Anger
Flashbacks
Sleep disturbances including nightmares
Experiencing unwanted negative thoughts
Hypervigilance or always being on guard
Anxiety
Withdrawal or social isolation
Loss of interest in things you used to enjoy
Feeling numb
Feeling detached from your body or your surroundings
Dissociation
Risky or self-destructive behaviors like drinking too much, eating disorders, substance abuse, and codependency
Complex Trauma or C-PTSD
Complex trauma is the result of being exposed to long-term trauma. Frequently, individuals who have complex trauma felt like there was no way out or no hope that things will get better. Often, complex trauma stems from childhood abuse and neglect, but it doesn’t have to. It can also come from being in combat, long-term relationships where domestic violence is present, or from enduring human trafficking.
Symptoms of complex PTSD or C-PTSD look very similar to the ones listed above. But the symptoms can be more intense and cause long-term difficulties in your life.
Dissociation or Dissociative Identity Disorder
At White Rock Therapy, we specialize in helping individuals who experience multiple forms of dissociation and those with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Dissociation is best understood as a form of compartmentalization that occurs. It can offer a separation between a person’s thoughts, memory, emotions, body, perception of self and others, behaviors, and sense of self.
After experiencing trauma and/or PTSD, the mind can dissociate as a means of protecting itself against thoughts and emotions that would have been too difficult to process.
Dissociative Identity Disorder was formerly called multiple personality disorder. This diagnosis unfortunately has not been represented well in the media, making it difficult for others to seek support for dissociation. DID is a way that a person has adapted to ongoing trauma and offers the ability to function in the day-to-day as best as is possible.
Dissociative Identity Disorder is characterized by:
The presence of two or more distinct identities or personalities,
memory loss or gaps in memory
significant distress that negatively impacts quality of life.
Trauma & PTSD Treatment
As therapists who specialize in treating trauma, PTSD, complex trauma, and dissociation, we realize that reaching out for help is a big step. It can be frightening because you don’t know what to expect. Perhaps, you’re concerned about what may be discovered, especially if you’ve tried to cope with your experiences by pushing them out of your mind.
We also recognize that you may struggle to seek help from a therapist or talk to someone about the events you experienced as a result of childhood abuse or neglect for fear of how that will impact a relationship with someone that may have committed the acts or enabled them. These concerns are understandable, and we can support you as you take the time to process and navigate these concerns.
Please let us reassure you, that our primary goal is that you feel safe when you meet with us. Your desire to experience peace is our priority at White Rock Therapy. Your instincts to protect yourself and your cautiousness are good things. We want to help by shouldering the burden you’ve been carrying by hearing concerns and taking them seriously. We will never force you to work through something; you have choices here. We will continue to support you. And, when you are ready we will support you in that next step as well.
Our Approach to Trauma Therapy & PTSD Treatment in Dallas, Frisco, throughout Texas & online in New Jersey
We use a variety of counseling tools and approaches to help you. We respect your story and your experiences and will always work with you to determine the best path toward finding relief.
We treat counseling with a trauma-informed lens and use the following therapy modalities to inform our approach.
Somatic Therapy for Trauma & PTSD
This is a body-focused approach to treating trauma and PTSD. When you experience trauma you may feel “stuck” or unable to move forward. Somatic therapy aims to determine where you are getting stuck and help you process the bodily sensations associated with that memory. Then we help guide you through these sensations to help decrease distress.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Ego State Therapy
In this form of work, the emphasis is on the word “internal”. Here you will develop tools to guide and lead your “inner parts” of “self”. These parts can be recognized by noticing our particular thoughts, feelings, and beliefs which have previously informed our behaviors both consciously and unconsciously. You will learn how to observe these thoughts and behaviors that may be automatic and instinctual and will help you gain insight that can make lasting changes.
Within this model of therapy, you will be able to access within yourself key characteristics like confidence and compassion. You will learn to lead from these places within which in turn, will help build calm within and effectively create change that you might otherwise have felt would have been difficult to do.
EMDR Therapy
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. It is a well-researched approach to helping you uncover your “stuck points.” Stuck points are upsetting, emotionally-charged memories that the brain is unable to fully process due to trauma. During some portions of your EMDR therapy, your therapist will use a technique called bilateral stimulation and walk you through a series of protocols to move your traumatic memory and its effects into a place where your brain can process it. It also helps you lessen the impact these memories have and the negative ways they are impacting you in the present.
EMDR is a relatively short-term approach used in conjunction with other forms of talk therapy. Many clients like EMDR because it does not require you to directly talk or relive what happened in your past.
We Are Here For You
Our sincere hope is that after trauma treatment you will find relief from the symptoms and memories that have haunted your life and feel a joy that cannot be forced. We can never undo what happened in your past, and we can’t erase it from your memory. But, our hope is to decrease the negative impact they have on your present. We want you to feel empowered because your life experiences will no longer have control over you. Instead, we hope to help you feel confident in your own strengths, who you are as a person, and who you are becoming.
Begin Trauma Treatment and PTSD Treatment in Dallas, TX
We are here to help you find the help that you so desperately deserve. And we hope that you will find caring therapists at our Dallas, TX-based therapy center who will offer you a sense of safety and support as you move through this therapeutic process. We also now have in-person trauma therapy and PTSD treatment in Frisco, TX, online therapy in Texas, and online therapy in New Jersey. To begin, simply follow these steps:
Schedule an appointment with a caring therapist
Start living the joyful life you deserve
Other Services Offered at White Rock Therapy
Trauma treatment and PTSD treatment are not the only services we offer at our Dallas, TX-based therapy practice. Other mental health services White Rock Therapy provides include EMDR therapy, online therapy, Christian counseling, group therapy, grief counseling, support for families of addicts, anxiety therapy, therapy for dissociation, intensives, and therapy for athletes. For clinicians, we also offer clinical supervision and clinical consultations for therapists. We have White Rock therapists available in Dallas, TX, Frisco, TX, virtually anywhere in Texas and virtually anywhere in New Jersey. any additional questions, please feel free to visit our FAQ page!