Trauma Counseling

For almost 20 years, Durango Counseling and Touch Therapies has provided counseling services with a cultivated specialty in Trauma Counseling and trauma related psychotherapy.  I am so often amazed at the resiliency and courage that trauma survivors can show and I have dedicated my practice to helping clients that have suffered a life changing trauma to integrate their past to to their current self.  Because of this, during the course of my professional and educational experience, I have worked to become a Certified Trauma Professional by the International Association of Trauma Professionals and I have gained almost 2 decades in experience working with trauma, PTSD, and attachment trauma.

Trauma in one’s past can take on many forms and trauma related counseling can be helpful in the treatment of a wide variety of traumatic events.   Trauma Counseling has been proven effective for those who have witnessed or been a part of a traumatic event such as car accident, abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence or childhood abuse, and many other traumatic situations.  Trauma Counseling is also very effective for combat veterans, first-responders and various other service men and women that are exposed to traumatic situations in the line of duty.

This path to healing is different for every survivor and for every situation, so we work together to develop a safe environment and a customized treatment plan that will help each client deal with their individual circumstance and their resulting unique responses.  Because every path to overcoming trauma is different, I utilize a wide variety of modalities to help process and integrate traumatic events including, but not limited to:

• CBT- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Narrative Therapy
• DBT- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
• Body Centered Therapy
• Mindfulness Centered Therapy

It is important to keep in mind that, just as with most other things, trauma counseling doesn’t offer some secret pill that will magically help you feel better about your experience.  It takes practice, diligence, and hard work, but that work is rewarded not only in our ability to manage the negative feelings associated with a specific event, but also in taking control of how our response influences our daily lives and our relationships with others as well as ourselves.   Overall, combat counseling and trauma therapy services will focus on processing, healing and integrating trauma related events, memories and emotions.  It also focuses on developing skills and healthy response mechanisms that a client can take into their daily lives.  Over the course of trauma therapy, we will focus on:

• Learning how to manage and regulate our “fight or flight” response that can become over-active after a traumatic event.
  • Learning how to cope with strong emotions.
  • Developing healthy relationships with others, as well as oneself.
• Learning how to calm and regulate the nervous system.
• And much more

I have completed the Advanced Master Program on the Treatment of Trauma through NICABM, equipping me with the latest neuroscience-backed approaches for addressing trauma-related dysregulation, somatic processing, and resilience-building. Additionally, my certification in The Neurobiology of Attachment has strengthened my expertise in understanding how early relational experiences shape an individual’s response to trauma, allowing me to integrate attachment-focused strategies into my therapeutic work.

I am also a Certified Complex Trauma & Dissociation Specialist (CPT-III) which signifies a high level of expertise and training in treating individuals with complex trauma and dissociation.  The training involved in obtaining the CPT-III provides a comprehensive understanding of complex trauma, dissociation, and their associated issues, helping me to address the unique needs of clients with complex trauma and dissociation. This can lead to more effective treatment, faster symptom reduction, and improved overall client well-being.

Contact me today to learn more about Trauma Counseling or to see if you might be a candidate and let me help you take control over your traumatic experience and move forward in your life.