What is trauma?
Over the years, clinicians and researchers have given names to some of the more common sources of trauma. Not because trauma fits neatly into boxes, but because having a name for something makes it easier to talk about. Here are a few of the terms you may come across.
Childhood Trauma
What happens early tends to stay with us. Difficult experiences in childhood, especially ones that went unacknowledged or repeated over time, can surface decades later as anxiety, depression, or patterns that don't seem to have an obvious cause. It's common for this to arrive long after the fact, and it's never too late to address it.
Generational Trauma
Some pain is inherited. It travels through the stories we're told, the caution we're raised with, and the ways our parents and grandparents learned to survive what happened to them. You may carry the weight of something you never lived through – and understanding where it came from is often the first step toward setting it down.
Some of what's on this page may be happening to you right now, not in the past. If you need to talk to someone today, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) and the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233) are both free and available around the clock.
Violence and Interpersonal harm
Assault, abuse, war, sexual violence, or living under the threat of any of them leaves marks that don't always show. You may find yourself scanning for danger, avoiding places or people, or feeling detached from your own body. Whether it happened once or over years, whether anyone else knows or not, what happened to you was real and the response you're having makes sense.
Collective Trauma
When something difficult happens to many people at once (like a pandemic, a disaster, an act of violence), the aftermath is both personal and shared. Communities may struggle to talk about it, or talk about it in only one accepted way. Anniversaries and news coverage can bring comfort or reopen the wound, and your response may shift from year to year.
Gender-Based Trauma
Some harm arrives because of who you are. Being harassed, coerced, talked over, shaped, disbelieved, told your experience was an overreaction – individually these can seem small, and together they accumulate into something that changes how safe you feel in the world. This includes the experiences of women, of trans and nonbinary people, and of men whose pain doesn't fit what they were told men are allowed to feel.
Moral Injury
This is what it feels like to be forced into a choice that violates what you believe is right. It's common among healthcare workers, first responders, caregivers, and anyone working inside a system they can see failing but can't fix. It can leave you feeling betrayed, ashamed, or unsure of your own values, and it deserves the same care as any other injury.
Racial Trauma
Racism affects the body as well as the mind. The cumulative weight of discrimination, whether through overt incidents or the constant, low-grade vigilance of daily life, can produce very real symptoms of trauma. There's no single definition, and your experience of it doesn't need to fit one to be taken seriously here.
Secondary Trauma
You don't have to be the one it happened to. Witnessing trauma closely (as a nurse, therapist, journalist, first responder, or as someone who loves a survivor) can affect you just as deeply. You may notice yourself going numb or walling it off from the rest of your life. That's not weakness, and it's not something you have to carry alone.
Trauma isn't only what happened to you. It's the way it keeps living in your body and your nervous system long after the moment has passed. Maybe you feel on guard even when things are fine. Maybe you feel numb, or far away from yourself. Maybe you carry something you have never quite had words for. However it shows up, it makes sense, and you do not have to make sense of it alone.
When you look fine and still don't feel safe
You can be high-functioning, capable, and successful, and still not feel safe in your own body. Trauma often hides behind a life that looks completely put together: the person everyone relies on, who startles too easily, sleeps too lightly, and has never quite felt at ease. If you have wondered whether what you went through "counts," or whether you are making too much of it, please know that the way it still affects you is answer enough.
When the past won't stay in the past
The lasting effects of trauma show up differently for everyone, but some common experiences include:
- Feeling on edge, easily startled, or braced for danger
- Feeling numb, disconnected, or far away from your own body
- Difficulty trusting others, or feeling safe in relationships
- Painful memories or reactions that surface when you least expect them
- Trouble sleeping, or a body that won't fully relax
- A sense of shame, or of not feeling like yourself
Trauma isn't only the result of a single catastrophic event. It can also come from ongoing stress, difficult relationships, or experiences that left a lasting mark. Whatever brought you here, your experience is valid.
How I Help
Trauma-focused therapy is not about re-living painful events. It's about processing them in a way that builds safety and stability first, so the past no longer has the same hold on your present. Because trauma lives in the body as much as the mind, our work often includes gentle, body-aware approaches alongside talking. We build safety slowly and together, at a pace you set, and you are always in the driver's seat.
What our work together looks like
You set the pace, always. Some of our work will focus on building a sense of safety in your body and your daily life before we go anywhere near the harder material. I will be transparent about what I am noticing and why, so nothing happens in a black box. And I will meet you with honesty and care, following your lead while gently holding the thread of what you have said you want for yourself: to move through this, and to feel like yourself again.
What healing can look like
Healing from trauma doesn't mean forgetting. It means the past loses its grip on your present. Over time, the work can look like:
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Feeling safe and settled in your own body
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Being present, instead of always braced for what's next
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Painful memories that lose their charge and their power
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Trusting others, and letting people closer to you but at your pace
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Sleeping more easily, and relaxing more fully
Feeling like yourself again
You deserve to feel peaceful and in control of your life. Through therapy, you can find your way to a calmer, safer future. You are not on this journey alone.
Trauma & PTSD Therapy FAQ for Adults in
Colorado, Tennessee, and Florida
Do I have to talk about the details of what happened?
No, you do not have to recount the details for trauma therapy to help. Healing is about processing the effects of what happened, not forcing yourself to narrate it. We focus on building safety and working at your pace, and you decide what to share and when.
Will trauma therapy make me feel worse before I feel better?
Trauma therapy is designed to avoid that by building safety and stability first, before processing anything painful. It is not about re-living difficult events. We move at a pace that feels manageable to you, and you are always in control. Many people feel a sense of relief rather than overwhelm.
Can trauma therapy be done online?
Yes, trauma therapy is provided effectively through online sessions, and this practice is fully telehealth. Meeting from a space where you already feel safe can even support the work. I work with clients located anywhere in Colorado, Tennessee, and Florida, in 50-minute sessions.
Can trauma therapy help with PTSD symptoms?
Yes, trauma therapy is highly effective in addressing PTSD symptoms such as flashbacks, anxiety, and emotional numbness, helping individuals regain control over their lives.
How long does trauma therapy typically take?
The duration of trauma therapy varies depending on individual needs and goals. Some people may see progress in a few months, while others may benefit from longer-term therapy.
