When it Feels like there is No Escaping the Past.
Trauma focused Therapy
The past has a way of Haunting us. We try to move beyond the effects of what has happened, yet it often feels like a race where we are perpetually stuck at the starting line.
A Feeling, a Sound, or perhaps a Smell, Taste, or Touch can betray us. It pulls us from the present we have worked so hard to reach and drags us back to a space where we feel helpless, invisible, expendable, or dirty. This is actually our body working to protect us by trying to ensure we are never hurt that way again.
Each incident leaves a lasting imprint. We then attach a message about who we are to that imprint. This is the mind’s way of making sense of what we experienced so we can avoid future pain.
Through Emotive Wellness, we seek to alter the messages we have struggled to disprove or outrun. We work to see the truth of what has happened and begin to write a new script reclaiming our future.
Because your Identity is bigger than your History.
Triggers are a lasting mark of an event or set of circumstance that we carry with us beyond that time and space. When these triggers are enacted we move towards a set of automatic responses that while their intention is to protect us, instead take us back in time to a place we swore we would never return.
Any of these ‘Common Echoes of the Past’ can lead to a heightened reactive stance, we become hyper aware of the world around us. We can in this state experience; intense anxiety, dynamic emotional response or even aggression.
Sensory Intrusions: A specific scent, the tone of a person’s voice, or a sudden noise can act as a doorway to the past. These signals can instantly pull you out of the present and into a state of high alert.
Physical Sensations: You may notice your heart racing, a knot in your stomach, or a feeling of being trapped in your own skin. These are often the body’s way of remembering what the mind is trying to move beyond.
Relational Patterns: Conflict with a partner or a perceived shift in a friend’s mood can trigger a deep sense of rejection. This often leads to feelings of being invisible or expendable.
The Weight of Silence: For some, it is the quiet moments that are the most difficult. When the distractions of the day fade, the messages we have struggled to outrun often become the loudest.
Environmental Cues: Certain locations, anniversaries, or even the way the light hits a room can serve as a reminder of a time when you felt helpless.
The Experience of Flashbacks: A flashback is more than a strong memory. It is a moment where the past intrudes so forcefully upon the present that it can feel as though you are back in the original event. Your heart may race and your senses may react as if the danger is happening right now. This is a profound physiological response where your brain loses the sense of time and prioritizes survival.
Any of these may describe your whole life or perhaps just what has emerged recently and refuses to settle. These experiences are heavy, yet they do not touch the core of who you are because you are so much more than your survival. You navigate the world with immense vigilance for the sake of those you love and for the roles you hold as a spouse, parent, provider, or friend. What would change if you directed that same protective strength toward the person underneath who is still waiting to feel secure? This is not about letting your guard down in an unsafe way but about finding a space where you are no longer braced for impact and can finally feel safe.
How Trauma Looks
The effects of trauma doesn’t look the same for everyone. It can be a roar or a whisper. It might feel like a sudden surge of heat or a cold sense of numbness. Sometimes it looks like a reflex to run or hide. Other times, it hides behind a need for hyper-vigilance, a drive to over-achieve, or a complete disconnection from your own body.
Hyper-vigalence
This is a state of constant, high-level alertness where your nervous system is perpetually scanning for threats. It often feels like you are unable to truly rest because your body is waiting for the next impact. You might find yourself easily startled by loud noises or always needing to know exactly where the exits are when you enter a room.
Intrusion and Flashbacks
These are moments where the past refuses to stay in the past. It is more than a memory because your body reacts as if the danger is happening right now. You may experience intrusive thoughts, nightmares, or full-body flashbacks where you lose your sense of the present and are pulled back to a space where you feel helpless or expendable.
Emotional Constriction or Numbness
To protect your core, your mind may dim the lights on your emotions as a way to ensure you are never hurt that way again. This can make it difficult to feel joy or intimacy even with those you love most. You might feel as though you are observing your life from a distance where everything is muted and safe but profoundly lonely.
Avoidance Behaviors
This is a survival strategy where you stay away from people, places, or even thoughts that might trigger a painful imprint. While it provides temporary relief, it often leads to a shrinking world. You might find yourself disconnecting from the roles and relationships that once informed your value to keep the pain at bay.
Somatic or Physical Distress
Trauma is stored in the body and often appears as physical echoes of a nervous system that is stuck in survival mode. This might manifest as a persistent tight chest, digestive issues, or unexplained chronic pain. Your body is trying to communicate a message of distress that the mind has struggled to outrun.
Cognitive Distortions
After trauma, the mind often creates new scripts to make sense of what happened. This can look like intense self-blame or a loss of trust in the world around you. You may begin to attach a message to your identity that you are inherently dirty or invisible, even when the truth of your circumstances says otherwise.
Dissociation
This is a sense of being disconnected from your body or your surroundings as a way to escape a situation that feels impossible to endure. You may feel like you are floating or that the world around you is not quite real. It is a profound protective mechanism that allows you to exist in a space without being fully present for the pain.
Dysregulation
This involves sudden and intense shifts in mood where your emotional thermostat feels broken. You may move from deep sadness to intense anger with very little provocation because your system is so sensitized to perceived threats. It becomes difficult to return to a state of calm once your body has decided it is time to fight or flee.
Trauma’s different forms
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD)
Acute Stress & Recent Incident Trauma
Intergenerational & Family Trauma
Relational Trauma & Attachment Wounds
Medical or Health-Related Trauma
Childhood Neglect or Emotional Abandonment
Systemic & Identity-Based Trauma
If the imprints of the past are interfering with your relationships, your ability to feel safe, or your sense of who you are, we are here for you.
A Life where Your Story Works for you.
“Visualize a life where these feelings work for you rather than against you. This is the transition from surviving your history to truly inhabiting your present. It is the moment you realize that the vigilance, the depth of feeling, and even the protective numbness were all ways your body tried to keep you whole when the world felt impossible.
When we begin to understand these echoes as signals rather than flaws, the script begins to change. You start to recognize the roar of a trigger as a request for safety rather than a sign of brokenness. You see the heavy silence of depression as a need for rest rather than a permanent loss of self.
As we work together, that little bit of space you have been searching for begins to grow. You move from a life of constant bracing into a life of intentional presence. You learn to honor the roles you hold while finally making room for the person underneath to breathe, to connect, and to feel secure in their own skin.”
How Therapy Works at Emotive Wellness
Our Approach
Understanding
We work to identify which Shadows of the past are Triggering these responses in your daily life. This includes the constant anticipation of a future threat, a profound sense of disconnection from yourself or others, or the heavy weight of isolation.
Exploring
We will discover how these survival strategies once worked in your favor and explore the underlying motivations behind your actions. This might include understanding when an act originates from genuine kindness or when it is a reflex to be seen as kind in order to maintain a sense of safety and connection.
Identifying
We work together to identify the core, grounding qualities of your being that remain untouched by the things you have survived. This involves recognizing the parts of you that will exist even when the echoes of the past feel the loudest. By connecting with this internal constant, we find a steady foundation that allows you to move through triggers without losing your sense of who you are.
Collaborate
Therapy moves at your pace because your sense of safety is our highest priority. We adjust our tools and approaches to fit your unique capacity for healing as our goal is sustainable change that respects your boundaries. This growth often happens one percent at a time, allowing your nervous system to integrate new levels of peace without feeling overwhelmed.
Evidence-Based Approach
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Thoughts, behaviors and actions all inform one and the other. Our goal is to see the pattern in which they interact and how we are able to adjust those patterns even 1% at a time.
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Two things can be true at the same time, holding two seemingly contradictory thoughts together. Skills utilize within this space move us from a “all or nothing” perspective towards one in which we are able to ground ourselves effectively within the true story of who we are.
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Motivational interviewing is a process that moves from attempting to fit or engage in the process of change to meet a societal structure, instead to recognize ones own desire and purpose within the pursuit or alteration of behavior.
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Solution focused Brief therapy focus’ on alteration of perspective, possibly establishing boundaries regarding relationships that are causing you distress, or alteration of work life balance that is causing you to feel you need to be everything for every one. This is more than just picking low hanging fruit, but it is about identifying with speed those 1% shifts that can be stacked one on top of the other at an increased rate.
FAQs
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Yes, the echoes of your history can be integrated so that they no longer dictate your present. While trauma can feel like a permanent shift in who you are, your nervous system possesses an incredible capacity for resilience. By working to move out of a constant survival state, you can reclaim your energy and embolden yourself to live the life you have always wanted. Healing is not about forgetting what happened, but about reaching a place where your past no longer has the power to keep you small.
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Trauma often feels like your body has forgotten how to be in the present. It can manifest as an internal alarm that is stuck in the "on" position, making every day feel like a high-stakes survival mission. Physically, it may feel like a sudden surge of heat and a racing heart or a heavy sense of cold numbness and disconnection. It is the experience of the past constantly interrupting your "now," making it difficult to trust your surroundings or even your own sense of safety.
For some, it feels like an internal alarm that is stuck in the on position, making every day feel like a high-stakes survival mission. For others, it is a quiet, persistent sense of being different or broken, as if there is a wall between you and the rest of the world. Ultimately, trauma feels like the past is constantly interrupting your now, making it difficult to trust your own safety or the intentions of those around you.
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Yes, the echoes of your history can be integrated so that they no longer dictate your daily life. Healing is not about deleting the past but about reclaiming your nervous system’s capacity for peace. Through therapy, we work to expand your window of tolerance so that you can move through triggers without becoming overwhelmed. We help your brain file traumatic experiences away as historical events so that your body can finally understand that the danger is over and it is safe to exist in the present.
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We treat trauma by focusing on both the mind and the body. We begin by stabilizing your nervous system and building a foundation of safety. Once you feel grounded, we use specialized approaches to gently process the memories that have been stuck in your system. This involves releasing the physical tension of survival reflexes and shifting from a mindset of "doing" for others to "being" for yourself. The goal is a sustainable change where your history becomes a part of your story rather than the force that controls it.
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Trauma develops when an event or a continuous environment overwhelms your internal ability to cope. It is less about the specific incident and more about how your nervous system processed the lack of safety. When a threat is too large to handle, the brain’s survival center takes over and bypasses the parts of the mind that track time and logic. This causes the experience to be stored as a "live" threat rather than a past memory. Because the body was unable to complete its natural survival response at the time, that energy remains held in your system, resulting in the feeling of being perpetually braced for impact.
Our Services
Getting started is simple and can happen today
Individual Therapy Specialties
Relationship Therapy Services
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Ready to Begin?
We’re Here When You’re Ready
We understand starting therapy can feel intimidating, especially when anxiety is already loud. Not knowing what to expect can make reaching out feel even harder. That’s why we aim to make the process simple, supportive, and human from the very beginning.
From your first message to your ongoing sessions, you can expect care, clarity, and respect for your pace.
What the Process Looks Like
Schedule a complementary consultation, typically we will reach out within 24 hours of scheduling to touch base regardless. Most times we can accommodate same day consultations and scheduling complete session within 24 hours.
Step 1: Scheduling
Connect your insurance with our verification platforms to ensure the proper utilization of your benefits.
Step 2: Verify Insurance
We stack small changes, even 1% at a time to build up and create lasting change that will carry us the rest of our lives.
Step 3: Be ready for change
Lets Walk Together Through this part of the Journey
Transformation happens when we move out of a permanent state of survival and back into a state of intention. We work to harness the energy once used for protection and turn it toward a future where you are finally the author of your own experience.