Trauma Therapy in Los Angeles

You don't have to relive it to heal from it.

If you've been carrying the weight of something painful, you already know how exhausting it is. The hypervigilance. The way certain sounds or smells pull you back without warning. The sense that some part of you is still stuck in what happened, even when the rest of your life has moved on.

Healing from trauma doesn't mean telling your story over and over until it stops hurting. It means processing what happened in a way that's safe, structured, and at your pace. You're in control here.

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You’re not alone

What You're Experiencing Makes Sense

Trauma changes how your brain and body respond to the world. If you're feeling on edge, disconnected, or like you can't trust yourself or others the way you used to, that's not a sign that something is wrong with you. It's a sign that your nervous system learned to protect you, and those protections are still running.

You might be here because:

  • You experienced something overwhelming and haven't been able to fully move past it

  • Certain situations, people, or places trigger intense reactions you can't always explain

  • You feel numb, disconnected, or like you're just going through the motions

  • Memories or images intrude when you don't want them to

  • You're exhausted from being on high alert all the time

  • You've noticed patterns in your life or relationships that trace back to painful experiences, maybe even ones from childhood or your family history

Common Signs & Symptoms

Trauma shows up differently for everyone. You don't need a formal PTSD diagnosis to benefit from trauma-focused therapy.

Mental and Emotional Symptoms:

  • Intrusive memories, flashbacks, or nightmares

  • Feeling emotionally numb or detached

  • Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe in relationships

  • Shame, guilt, or a persistent sense that something is wrong with you

Physical & Behavioral Symptoms:

  • Being easily startled or constantly on edge

  • Difficulty sleeping or concentrating

  • Avoiding people, places, or situations that trigger memories

  • Physical reactions (racing heart, tension, nausea) when reminded of the trauma

the science

How Trauma Triggers Work

A trauma trigger is anything that reminds your nervous system of the original threat—even when you're actually safe now. Triggers can be obvious (a loud noise, a specific location) or subtle (a tone of voice, a particular smell, a feeling of being trapped).

When you're triggered, your brain doesn't always distinguish between past and present. It activates the same survival responses—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn—that helped you get through the original experience. This isn't a choice or a weakness. It's your nervous system doing exactly what it learned to do.

Understanding your PTSD trauma triggers is part of the healing process. Over time, therapy helps your brain update its threat assessment so you can respond to the present moment rather than reacting from the past.

Why Trauma Symptoms Persist

After a traumatic experience, it's common to develop rigid beliefs about yourself, others, and the world. These beliefs often form automatically as your mind tries to make sense of what happened.

You might find yourself thinking: "I should have done something differently." "I can't trust anyone." "The world isn't safe." "There's something fundamentally wrong with me."

These beliefs aren't character flaws. They're stuck points—conclusions your brain drew in the aftermath of overwhelming experiences. They made sense at the time, but they keep you locked in a painful way of seeing yourself and the world.

Trauma processing therapy helps you examine these beliefs and develop a more balanced perspective. Not by minimizing what happened, but by separating what's true about the past from what's true about you.

Our Method

Our Approach to Trauma Treatment

We use evidence-based methods that don't require reliving every detail. You don't have to share everything that happened to heal from it.

Cognitive Processing Therapy

CPT is a form of CBT for adults who have experienced trauma. In sessions, we identify unhelpful thinking patterns that often result from traumatic experiences. People who have experienced trauma tend to develop negative beliefs about safety, trust, power and control, esteem, and intimacy. Together, we work to develop more balanced beliefs in these areas and help you move past the trauma in the safe environment of therapy.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

TF-CBT is a trauma treatment for children and teens who have experienced a life-threatening or overwhelmingly distressing event. After a trauma, children might appear anxious, become hypervigilant, avoid reminders of the trauma, or startle easily. We work with the child or teen and parent to build coping skills, identify unhelpful beliefs, and process the trauma through a trauma narrative.

the difference

What Makes Our Approach Different

Safety comes first. Always. We won't push you to talk about anything before you're ready. The pace of our work is something we decide together, and you're always in control of what you share and when.

We also work from a relational, attachment-informed lens. Trauma often happens in relationships, and healing often happens in relationships too. Part of our work is building a therapeutic relationship where you feel genuinely safe.

This isn't about "getting over it" or pretending it didn't happen. It's about integrating what happened so it no longer controls how you live.

Building Lasting Healing

Trauma therapy isn't just about reducing flashbacks or sleeping better, though those things often improve. It's about reclaiming parts of yourself that got locked away. Many clients find that as they process their trauma, they also discover new capacities for connection, self-compassion, and joy that had been unavailable to them.

the process

What to Expect

Getting Started

We begin with a free 15-minute consultation call. You'll share a bit about what's bringing you to therapy, and I'll answer any questions about how we work. There's no pressure to commit, and you don't need to share details of your trauma on this call. It's just a conversation to see if we might be a good fit.

If you decide to move forward, your first full session (60-75 minutes) focuses on getting to know you as a whole person, not just your trauma. We'll talk about your history, what's happening in your life now, and what you're hoping to get from therapy. We build safety and trust first.

The work

Sessions are 50 minutes, typically weekly. In the early sessions, we focus on stabilization and coping skills, making sure you have tools to manage distress before we move into deeper processing work. When you're ready, we'll work through the beliefs that formed around your trauma using a structured, evidence-based approach.

You'll have work to practice between sessions, which is where much of the processing happens. We'll move at a pace that challenges you without overwhelming you.

Timeline

Most people notice significant improvement within 10-20 sessions, though this can vary based on your specific situation. Some people need more time, especially if they're processing complex trauma or multiple experiences. We'll track progress together and adjust as needed. The goal is lasting change, not just getting through it.

FAQ

Common Questions about Anxiety

  • Not necessarily. CPT focuses on the beliefs that formed after the trauma, not on retelling the story over and over. You're always in control of what you share and when. We'll never push you to disclose more than you're ready for.

  • Some therapy approaches can inadvertently keep you stuck by having you revisit the trauma without the structure to actually process it. CPT is specifically designed to help you work through trauma efficiently and safely. We also prioritize stabilization first—making sure you have coping tools in place before we do deeper work.

  • Trauma isn't about comparing your experience to someone else's. If something overwhelmed your capacity to cope and is still affecting you today, that's enough. You don't need a specific diagnosis or a certain type of event to benefit from trauma therapy.

  • Yes. Many clients come to recognize that their current struggles trace back to early experiences or generational trauma cycles. We can work on understanding these patterns and changing how they show up in your life today.

  • Most people notice significant improvement within 10-20 sessions, though this can vary. Complex trauma or multiple traumatic experiences may take longer. We'll set goals together and revisit them regularly so you always know where you stand.

You're one step away from the support you deserve.

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