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You are not what’s happened to you

Trauma Therapy for Women & College Students in Lansing and across Michigan

Are you stuck in feeling unsafe, having low self-esteem, and unable to regulate emotions?

You struggle to identify and feel your feelings and can’t remember the last time you felt true happiness.

Maybe you’re noticing:

  • Having trouble focusing on things or brain fog

  • Going through the motions on auto-pilot, having little energy or motivation

  • Procrastination and fear of failure

  • Critical inner voice, self-doubting, and low self esteem

  • Trouble asking for help and difficulty trusting and being vulnerable

  • Scattered thoughts and frequently triggered

  • Feeling nervous, helpless, fearful, and sad

  • Feeling shocked, numb, or not able to feel love or joy

  • Experiencing symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

 Trauma Focused Therapy can help.

It’s time to feel empowered in being yourself.

How therapy works

You can learn to break free from dysfunctional patterns and feel safe and happy again.

It may feel unattainable now, but you can thrive again. As your therapist, I will help you through this process, adjusting and tailoring each step to your unique needs. My approach to trauma focused therapy comes from a place of hope and belief that those who suffer from trauma can feel secure and empowered. You are not the “problem”, sometimes you might get stuck in a pattern of negative thoughts that you need help adjusting. With commitment, time, and patience it can happen.

I can help you get there.

Schedule Free Consultation

Therapy for trauma can help you…

  • Learn to manage your emotions

  • Learn to set, enforce, and communicate your boundaries

  • Recognize and cope with your triggers

  • Feel comfortable expressing your needs, feelings, and opinions

  • Safely explore feelings of shame and self-doubt

  • Identify where challenging feelings about self are coming from and work towards self-acceptance

  • Start to treat yourself with kindness and compassion

  • Build self-love

  • Move through life feeling self assured and confident in being yourself

  • Overcome distressing post traumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD)

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Frequently asked questions about trauma therapy

FAQs

  • First, we focus on gathering information about your specific trauma symptoms.

    Next, we work on building awareness of your triggers, and identify what negatively affects your trauma symptoms and what helps decrease it’s effects.

    Then, we will then work to understand how trauma is affecting your mental health by building self awareness, utilizing coping skills, and establish goals.

  • Symptoms of trauma can include but not limited to:

    Emotional and psychological symptoms:

    Shock, denial, or disbelief

    Confusion, difficulty concentrating

    Anger, irritability, mood swings

    Anxiety and fear

    Guilt, shame, self-blame

    Withdrawing from others

    Feeling sad or hopeless

    Feeling disconnected or numb

    Physical symptoms:

    Insomnia or nightmares

    Fatigue

    Being startled easily

    Difficulty concentrating

    Racing heartbeat

    Edginess and agitation

    Aches and pains

    Muscle tension

  • Trauma is defined as an emotional response to a distressing event that can be physical or psychological, causing long-lasting negative effects on a person’s mental and emotional state. It can result from a one-time event or a series of events.

    Below are some of the traumatic experiences I most commonly work with:

    • Domestic violence or emotional abuse

    • Narcissistic abuse

    • Sexual abuse or sexual assault

    • Childhood emotional neglect

    • Childhood abuse (emotional, physical, sexual)

    • Traumatic grief (sudden loss, unexpected death, suicide loss)

    • Car accidents or transportation accidents

    • Witnessing violence (community violence, neighborhood violence, frightening events)

    • Being in or witnessing a shooting

    • Witnessing a violent event (assault, attack, or severe injury to someone else)

    • House fires, natural disasters, evacuation trauma

    • Medical or traumatic emergencies

    • Attachment trauma from growing up with emotionally unavailable parents

    • High-conflict divorce or relational trauma

    • Trauma related to infidelity or betrayal

    • Religious trauma / spiritual trauma

    • Intergenerational trauma or family-of-origin trauma

    • Trauma from growing up with a parent who had mental illness or addiction

  • I use a Person-Centered Therapy approach (PCT) blending Talk Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) to assist in coping and reducing trauma related symptoms. You will move at your own pace according to what feels right for you.

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  • The first step is emailing (sarah@forwardoutlookcounseling.com), or completing the contact form to book an initial consult. Once we have that consult and make sure we are a good fit, we schedule our first session. You will get an email with a link to fill out initial paperwork. Then, we have our first therapy session either in person or virtually.

    Click here to Learn more.

 You don’t have to continue to live this way.

Life can get better.

Get started