Healing from Complex Trauma

Survivors of abuse often carry a heavy burden of shame, confusion, and fear that can persist for years. Individuals spend years feeling that their reactions are confusing, excessive or somehow evidence that something is wrong with them. These adverse events impact how they view themselves and their relationships with others often leading to a fractured sense of self.

These traumatic experiences are not always held as a single, integrated memory. At times, aspects of an individual's experience-including emotions, beliefs, bodily sensations, memories, or protective responses-may be dissociated and held by particular parts of the self outside their awareness. These experiences can continue to influence present-day reactions, relationships and sense of safety.

Therapy can provide an opportunity to approach these experiences with curiosity, compassion and appropriate clinical structure. Rather than attempting to eliminate or suppress parts of oneself, treatment can help individuals understand the protective purpose these responses may have served, reduce the distress associated with traumatic experiences and develop greater internal connection, safety and choice.

Understanding the trauma itself can be profoundly important. Many symptoms make considerably more sense when they are understood as adaptations that once helped a person survive overwhelming circumstance. Trauma informed therapy shifts the question from "What's wrong with you" to "What happened to you?"-and explores what those experiences have come to mean about yourself, other people and the world.

Treatment is carefully paced and individualized. Depending upon the person's needs and readiness it may include trauma education, stabilization and grounding, development of emotional regulation skills, identification of trauma-based patterns, processing of traumatic memories and integration of previously disconnected experiences and support with current life concerns.

Therapy provides the opportunity to understand and value trauma adaptations, determine which ones are still needed and develop new ways of responding that provide greater connection and freedom in the present.

Barbara Snow DSW/LCSW has a unique expertise in specialized trauma therapy for adult survivors of interpersonal violence, childhood and adult sexual abuse, organized exploitation including ritual, medical and human trafficking. She is committed to provide a compassionate space where survivors can give voice to their experiences without judgment, gain accurate information about the context of their experience and find healing.