2002 Atwood Ave, Madison, WI, 53704 / TELETHERAPY / 920.215.1254

Trauma Therapy in Madison

Teletherapy throughout Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Oregon


Trauma—An Experience of Overwhelm That Disrupts A Sense of Wholeness

Trauma may be described as an overwhelming experience, forcing us beyond our ability to cope. It may be a feeling of terror or loss of contact with safety that happened once or was ongoing. Trauma is also described as an experience of too much, too soon, too fast. It may be a bodily feeling of falling to pieces, feeling fragmented, or feeling in bits.

Lately, it may feel as if past traumas are stealing your life away. You feel unsafe, out of control and paralyzed as you try to navigate the world. Your body feels so tight all the time. You hold yourself small, your shoulders hunched, and head turned down. If no one can see or notice me, then maybe I won’t get hurt again. No matter how hard you try, you continue to be haunted. Trauma has impacted how you relate with others and your relationship to your body.

Maybe during your younger years, you experienced abuse or neglect. And as an adult, you’ve also endured and survived traumas. This has led you to feel broken. You feel disconnected from your body and trapped in the belief that things will always be this way. 

You just want to feel safe in your body and in the world.

How Can Trauma Therapy Help You?

In our work together, we will first begin by slowly developing trust. Trauma therapy prioritizes the creation of a space and relationship where you can feel safe and where you won’t feel judged, shamed, or dismissed. Therapy to address trauma must feel safe, consistent, and reliable.

My approach is psychodynamic and may include addressing repetitive, unhelpful patterns in your life (whether that be in thought or action) that have their origins in past events. We will work to understand patterns and themes in your life with the goal of slowing these down and beginning to help you respond in new ways. Our work may also include grieving the losses associated with trauma. Together, we will deepen our understanding and make meaning of what happened to you. Bringing patience and compassion to the process, we can start to think about, feel about, and talk about your experience together. 

We will pay close attention to your felt sense experience— what you felt in your body when the trauma occurred and what you feel in your body as you talk about it now. This allows for the processing and integration of the experience that leads to more embodied wholeness. Being held by the safety of the therapeutic relationship allows for difficult emotions to be explored and to understand yourself in new and deeper ways.

We can also practice various mindfulness skills and self-compassion practices for trauma. These allow you to become more aware of the present moment and your body, tolerate and reduce distress, and reduce the self-blame that is often a result of trauma. Mindfulness is simply a way to feel the present moment, even during times of pain. Presence is healing. We want to help you develop more grounded and embodied ways of being.

Trauma Is Unique To Each Individual And Experience

Trauma is your body’s response to an event, what happens inside you. Each body’s trauma is unique–not everyone experiences the same event in the same way. Trauma that occurs in very early life interrupts the development of a sense of embodied wholeness. 

Maybe your trauma manifests in the body as pain and discomfort like an upset stomach, headaches, or tense muscles. You may feel shut down, numbed out or chronically tired or fatigued. Or maybe you feel like you can never settle or relax. Your body is always restless and needs to move. You’re in a constant “flight” state. Trauma may be affecting your mind and thinking, resulting in negative thoughts about yourself or thoughts of suicide. 

Our reaction to an event is influenced by the past and the effects continue to reverberate throughout our bodies and into the future. Trauma continues to show up in our lives, our bodies, and in repeated patterns until it can be spoken about, understood, resolved, and—most importantly— healed. 

We Are Born Into A Traumatized World

The truth is that we are born into a traumatized world. We are all in some way exposed to traumatic experiences and shaped by trauma. All traumas are relational, complex, intergenerational, and rooted in attachment. Traumatic patterns that keep repeating may be ancestral. Trauma is both collective and individual at the same time.

Our world is traumatized and we all carry this in our bodies. Trauma gets repeated and passed down within systems, cultures, communities, and families. Healing trauma on an individual level also heals collective trauma. Collective healing requires individual transformation.

Trauma Has Interpersonal, Historical, And Systemic Causes

Trauma may be interpersonal, ranging from childhood abuse or neglect to the loss of a loved one, family estrangement, divorce, or bullying. Trauma may be the result of having a family member with addiction or mental illness. More than two thirds of children report at least one traumatic event by age 16.

Trauma may be historical, defined as the “cumulative emotional and psychological wounding across generations, including the lifespan, which emanates from massive group trauma.” Events such as genocide, enslavement, colonialism, forced migration, apartheid, and segregation have resulted in historical traumas.

Enduring systemic oppression is traumatic. Being the target of police violence,  gender-based sexual violence, or employment discrimination, as well as experiencing poverty or homelessness, has harmful effects on a person’s mental, physical and spiritual well-being.  

If trauma has stolen your life away, our work together can guide you towards a path of healing. Trauma therapy can help restore a sense of wholeness and help you reconnect with your body.

My Approach Is Trauma-Focused To Aid Your Healing And Transformation

Trying to go on after a traumatic event can feel like there’s a weight on your shoulders that doesn’t ease up. However, in trauma-focused therapy, we can create a safe space so that you do not feel so alone and can explore the depth of your experiences without feeling taken over by them. My approach is not based on a PTSD-model of healing, which defines trauma as a single, definable event in time that’s separate from your relationships or the systems you live in. Trauma therapy centers your healing through the experience of finding safety in relationship, including with me as your therapist.

We can help you create a new narrative for your life in trauma therapy. Understanding who you are is a part of this process. My role is to help you integrate your past experiences and know that the past isn’t the end of the story. You can create a new story of your life and the future.

  • Trauma impacts our ability to regulate our emotions resulting in “fight, flight, or freeze” responses to situations. You may be extremely hard on yourself, making self-acceptance and self-compassion all but impossible. Your sense of identity, knowing who you are or what you want may consistently feel confusing. Relating to others and intimacy may be a life-long struggle. Trauma therapy addresses all these issues and can provide a way out of these old patterns.

  • You set the pace. Therapy to address trauma begins by first establishing safety and trust. This takes time. My priority is creating a nonjudgmental space where you can feel seen and heard. Over time, it will become easier to share about your experiences. Patience and compassion are essential to the process.

  • This form of trauma is defined by the ongoing and chronic nature of the distressing and harmful experience and how it impacts your relationships throughout the course of your life. Complex trauma occurs during our formative years of development– childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. The harm usually occurs within the context of a relationship where there is also power and dependency. Ongoing abuse or neglect (emotional and/or physical) by caretakers are examples of complex trauma. My approach also includes addressing and healing this kind of trauma.

Maybe You Are Considering Trauma Therapy, But Still Have A Few Questions…

Feeling Safe In The World And In Your Body Is Possible

Often, healing past traumas is at the root of personal change and growth. Trauma therapy can begin your journey where the past becomes the past and you can write an entirely new story for yourself.

To experience this, please call  920.215.1254, email, or contact me to schedule a 30-minute complimentary phone or video consultation to find out how trauma healing can help you experience a sense of safety and grounding you didn’t know was possible. I look forward to hearing from you.