Trauma Counseling

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)

EMDR is an evidence-based therapy created to allow for a more complete experience of processing trauma, involving the body in therapy processing with bilateral stimulation. The bilateral stimulation component of this therapy engages the brain and body as you process your emotions and experiences. Originally using eye movements to stimulate both sides of the brain and body, the therapy has expanded and allows for tactile or auditory bilateral stimulation options that are incorporated into your sessions. EMDR can be conducted as a stand-alone therapeutic process (the typical protocol is between 15-25 sessions) or incorporated into your regular therapy treatment as needed.

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Prolonged Exposure (PE)

PE is an evidence-based therapy that focuses on exposure work to address trauma symptoms. This therapy is unique in several ways. First, the protocol is flexible in its scheduling. If a client would like to expedite their process, they may choose to meet multiple times a week rather than once a week (depending on therapists’ availability). Another unique aspect of this therapy is that sessions are longer – 90 minutes instead of the usual 50 – to allow for experiential work (imaginal exposure) and processing work (reflecting on the exposure). Lastly, this therapy includes practical components that the client completes on their own between session times. These features all allow for this to be a short-term therapy with long-lasting results.

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Written Exposure Therapy (WET)

WET is an evidence-based and brief treatment that uses a written narrative approach to process traumatic experiences. This therapy is the briefest and least invasive approach, intended to be around 6 sessions. It is often offered in the course of longer therapeutic treatment, but can be done as a stand-alone treatment as well. WET involves using session time to write about your experiences, rather than verbally share them, and then share your experience of writing, and often the writing itself, with your therapist. This therapy offers a different medium (writing) to process difficult experiences.

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Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

TF-CBT is an evidence-based treatment designed to help clients process and address their traumatic experiences and the unhelpful thought patterns they often leave with us. While it can be used with adults, TF-CBT was initially created as a treatment for children of all ages. This therapy is unique in using both verbal and non-verbal storytelling techniques to help people process traumatic experiences. The non-verbal (writing, drawing) strategies make the therapy particularly helpful for children and teens who may not have the same language development mastery as an adult, and subsequently may not thrive in traditional talk therapy.

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Theraplay (Level 1) & Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)

Each of these is a trauma informed attachment based approach used in treatment for children or teens and their caregivers. Attachment wounds take place between a primary caregiver and a developing person. Attachment figures, typically a primary caregiver, can be the most important person in children’s worlds. These therapy types work to strengthen and heal attachment bonds by allowing caregivers to participate in the child’s healing in and outside of sessions.

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