Childhood Trauma

childhood trauma therapy - boca raton, florida

Are You Struggling With Unresolved And Ongoing Issues Stemming From Childhood Trauma?

Do you feel stuck or isolated in your life, like you just can’t get ahead? Are you paralyzed by painful childhood memories or fears, which keep you from moving forward in your career or relationships? Does being around certain people, places, sounds, or smells trigger fear, anxiety or panic attacks? Memories attached to traumatic events can affect your daily life – consciously or unconsciously – causing you to isolate yourself and preventing you from cultivating healthy, loving relationships, or moving toward better career opportunities. Perhaps you remember being abused or neglected as a child, or you choose to stay in toxic friendships, bad marriages or partnerships because it is what you know and you believe it is what you deserve. Maybe you have turned to alcohol or other substances to alleviate ongoing pain, and you are now struggling to keep your job or partner. Without support, you may begin to believe that your trauma was your fault, or that you are a bad person who is unworthy of being in a healthy relationship or enjoying a decent life. After years of difficulty, you may be desperate to understand why you are unable to move forward or be more productive in your life. Do you wish you could finally resolve your trauma and feel happier and more functional in your life?

Countless Individuals Struggle With Childhood Trauma

Many individuals understand that they feel stuck in their lives, but struggle to identify the cause of the pain, discomfort or uncertainty they are experiencing. They may not be conscious of how an unprocessed traumatic event in childhood continues to shape their decisions and behaviors as an adult. Traumatic memories of childhood physical or sexual abuse may create intimacy or sexual issues with their partner. As adults, we all see the world through a lens that has been colored by our childhood experiences. Individuals who grew up with domineering or abusive caregivers, for example, may become fearful of authority or enter into harmful relationships when they are adults. Whether or not you are aware a childhood trauma is negatively impacting your life, the thought of taking on extra responsibility and committing to therapy can be frightening.  

But there is hope! Childhood trauma therapy at Weiss Psychotherapy Group can help you identify why you are stuck, process and resolve traumas in your past, and feel more calm and confident.

Childhood Trauma Therapy Can Help You Process Painful Memories

childhood trauma therapy - boca raton, FL

Most children who experience trauma are unable to process or put traumatic events into context, making it impossible to properly store those experiences as memories in the brain’s hard-drive, so to speak. Instead, the trauma reappears like a temporary pop-up file, triggered simply by a smell, a sound, or a touch, and often accompanied by uncomfortable or painful physical and emotional responses like cold sweats or panic attacks. But, even if the trauma happened years or decades ago, it is possible to fully desensitize yourself from it and experience relief. At Weiss Psychotherapy Group, I offer a safe environment, compassionate support and effective guidance as you reprocess traumatic memories and regain control in your life.

Our first step during childhood trauma therapy is to identify the unconscious (or conscious) unresolved memories that are causing you to feel stuck or repeat the same negative behaviors in your life. Using EMDR – a therapeutic approach clinically tested and proven effective in the treatment of conscious and unconscious trauma – we can reprocess and resolve painful memories in a safe way.  With childhood trauma therapy, you can understand, process and replace negative beliefs about yourself, others and your environment that are causing you physical and emotional suffering. As you learn to recall traumatic memories without distress, you may feel increased self-esteem, gain new insights into yourself, improve interactions in relationships, and be happier and more functional in your life. Throughout our work, you will remain fully conscious in the healing process, and we will only address traumatic memories when you are ready.

Trauma recovery can be an ongoing process, and I will provide a variety of tools to help you continue healing after EMDR therapy. Utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques, you can change your negative core beliefs about yourself, others and your environment and adopt healthier more functional ones. I can teach you thought distraction, creative visualization, and relaxation techniques to divert intrusive negative thoughts or disturbing memories. Learning more adaptive ways to navigate your world while undergoing childhood trauma therapy will give you more control over your life and help you feel empowered, engage better with others and reach your goals.

By providing childhood trauma therapy in my Boca Raton practice and around South Florida since 2011, I have supported a multitude of clients as they identify and work through traumatic memories and how they have negatively impacted their lives. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), in addition to my extensive training in EMDR therapy, I understand the personal and relationship challenges that can result from unresolved trauma.
With compassionate support, you can finally resolve childhood trauma and feel better about who you are and move forward into a brighter and more fulfilling future.

childhood trauma therapy - boca raton, FL

But you may still have questions or concerns about childhood trauma therapy…

I’m scared that uncovering or remembering the trauma will be too much for me.

I understand the thought of discovering and addressing childhood trauma can be frightening, but does allowing yourself to repeat the same negative behaviors, continuing to engage in toxic relationships, and being stuck in a dead-end job seem less daunting? When you are able to identify and understand why you are struggling, you can address the root of the issue, learn better coping skills and tools to take control of your life, and feel better and more secure in the world.

I tried childhood trauma therapy in the past and it wasn’t successful.

Effective childhood trauma therapy depends on a variety of factors, including rapport with your therapist as well as your own willingness to commit to the healing process. Perhaps you were unable to build a connection or trust with your previous therapist. Maybe they were unable to provide effective therapy techniques to reprocess childhood trauma or teach you self-soothing ways to cope with stress, intrusive negative thoughts and difficult memories. Following through with you past treatment may have been just too stressful or painful. I offer you compassionate support and clinically proven and effective strategies to help you understand and resolve your childhood trauma.

I’ve always dealt with this issue. What if overcoming my trauma changes who I am as a person?

When you have experienced childhood trauma and have not reprocessed and resolved those memories, you may wake up every day expecting to feel stuck, unfulfilled or anxious as you struggle in your personal life and unhealthy relationships. You may feel like your misery defines you. Your childhood trauma is not who you are—it is what you experienced. Taking steps toward healing can be uncomfortable, scary or even painful, as though you are challenging a fundamental part of who you are. But wouldn’t being happy, feeling worthy of love, living more productively be a welcome change?

The trauma you experienced has colored the way you view the world, making everything appear more negative or narrow. In childhood trauma therapy my goal is not to change who you are, but to help you reprocess and resolve past trauma and see the world from a new and healthier perspective.

You Can Become Happier And More Functional

If you are struggling with memories of childhood trauma or need support as you try to understand why you are stuck in your life, Weiss Psychotherapy Group in Boca Raton can help. To get started, or if you have additional questions about childhood trauma therapy, I invite you to contact me or call (561) 213-6327 for a free 15 minute phone consultation.