Complex PTSD/Dissociation

Early trauma impacts every part of you.

You struggle daily. Everything is an emotional trigger, including your children, spouse, or any number of individuals that you need to interact with regularly.

Emotionally, you feel entirely out of control at times, and you don’t like some of the things you say or do or the behaviors you use to attempt to cope. Every year, it becomes more challenging to manage. You are drained, and your health is beginning to fail. There is too much shame, and you are terrified to face it.

Growing up, you didn’t receive much, if any, nurturing, and there were no good examples of how to have a relationship. Now, your relationships suffer because you don’t know what a healthy relationship looks like. You have simply been surviving and losing pieces of yourself along the way while trying desperately to maintain an attachment.

Even though you are now grown, these issues still occur as you try to hold on too tight or keep yourself safe by not attaching to anyone. Either way, it is a very lonely existence. You feel destined to suffer in this lifetime and do not need to claim it.

Growing up was painful.

Now, you are paying the price. You don’t know how to nurture yourself or others, as you never received it.

It can feel like a betrayal to speak of the things you didn’t receive growing up or the harsh behavior. Therefore, you report having a “good” childhood.

Perhaps you’re fully aware that you grew up in an unstable home where you never knew what to expect and your emotional needs were not met. You spent most of your life walking on eggshells and strengthening your ability to read the room and anticipate other’s needs to keep the peace.

You may not even understand the impact that childhood has on you as an adult when your needs are not met. If you were unable to connect with your caregiver and feel attuned and, therefore, feel safe and connected, these same feelings follow you into adulthood and interfere with your ability to manage relationships with others and yourself.

“That was a long time ago,” or “That’s in the past.”

It’s easy to think that what you experienced in childhood occurred in the past, but you can no longer ignore it. Therefore, you need to find answers that can explain how you feel and behave.

Is it possible that this is generational, and your parents couldn’t give you what they didn’t receive? Or perhaps they are simply “re-experiencing” the trauma that they grew up with? This is not an excuse for bad behavior. Instead, it is about understanding that it had nothing to do with you. You were an innocent child who deserved to have your needs met and to feel safe and loved.

Although you do not want to dwell on the past, it is necessary to acknowledge what happened and how it impacted you then and now to move forward, heal, and be able to live in the present. Otherwise, you dwell on it unconsciously and continue to suffer.

Therapy offers an opportunity to find the answers, break the cycle, and learn to live your life fully in the present moment.

Moving forward requires understanding the past.

In our work together, we will empower you to learn how to calm and soothe your nervous system, so you no longer feel powerless. As we work to heal the old wounds, we honor the parts of you that held onto all the pain for all these years so that you can function in your life.

When triggered, the memories and experiences stored in the nervous system can cause you to feel as If you are a much younger version of yourself again, feeling completely alone, overwhelmed, unsafe, and emotionally dysregulated.

Therapy will help you develop many resources to navigate life, allowing you to realize that you never have to be alone again. Working together will help you release those memories and experiences, allowing you to slowly learn to trust and connect with others.

This is a time for us to explore who you are and what is important to you while emphasizing your strengths because there are many for you to have come this far.

Let’s take this journey together.

If you are suffering, whether you’ve experienced childhood trauma or any prolonged interrelated traumatic events, we can explore it together.

You do not need to bear this burden for the rest of your life.

If you are ready to get some relief and get to a place where you can begin to enjoy life instead of simply treading water, then please don’t put it off another day.

Contact me today, and let’s start helping you move forward confidently.