Our Trauma-Informed Approach
We approach trauma therapy with care, not urgency. At Private Matters Psychotherapy, we don’t push you to retell painful memories before you’re ready, or at all. Instead, we focus on building safety, developing coping tools, and helping your nervous system feel more grounded. We understand that trauma can affect how you think, feel, connect, and even exist in your body-and we’re trained to respond with sensitivity, structure, and flexibility.
Our therapists draw from evidence-based approaches like EMDR, parts work, somatic awareness, ACT, and mindfulness-based approaches, but always with your consent and collaboration. You’ll never be rushed or talked over. You set the pace, and we walk with you.
Not all trauma leaves bruises, but it can still leave a mark.
Types of Trauma We Support
Trauma doesn’t have to be a single, life-threatening event to leave a lasting impact. Many of our clients come to us with experiences that were ongoing, subtle, or dismissed by others-but still deeply painful.
We work with people navigating:
- Relational and developmental trauma (e.g. emotional neglect, inconsistent caregiving, boundary violations)
- Complex PTSD and childhood trauma
- Single-incident trauma (e.g. accidents, assaults, medical trauma, natural disasters)
- Sexual trauma
- Chronic stress from identity-based harm (e.g. racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism)
- Workplace, caregiver, or first responder trauma
- Preverbal trauma and early attachment wounds
- Emotional abuse or coercive relationships
No trauma is too “big” or too “small” to deserve care. If it’s affecting your day-to-day life, your relationships, or your sense of safety, it matters.
What Trauma Therapy Can Help With
Trauma can affect more than just your memories, it can shape how you feel in your body, how you relate to others, and how safe the world feels. Many of our clients don’t come in saying, “I’ve experienced trauma”. They come in saying things like:
- “I’m always on edge.”
- “I don’t know how to trust people.”
- “I feel disconnected from myself.”
- “I shut down when things get too intense.”
Trauma therapy can support you in working through:
- Anxiety, panic, or hypervigilance
- Dissociation, numbing, or disconnection
- Flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive memories
- Emotional overwhelm or shutdown
- Chronic shame, self-blame, or low self-worth
- Relationship struggles rooted in past harm
- Feeling stuck in survival mode, even when life looks “fine”
We help you develop tools to feel safer in your body, more present in your life, and more connected to your sense of self-without needing to re-experience the pain.
Did you know? Feeling disconnected, numb, or “too much” can all be signs of trauma.
What Sessions Might Look Like
Trauma therapy isn’t about reliving the worst moments of your life. At Private Matters Psychotherapy, sessions are guided by what feels safe and useful to you. That might mean building grounding tools, exploring relationship patterns, gently unpacking past experiences, or simply learning how to feel more present in your body.
You won’t be asked to “go deep” before you’re ready, and you’ll never be pushed to tell your story in ways that feel re-traumatizing. Some sessions are quiet and reflective. Others are active and skill-based. All are collaborative.
Your therapist will check in with you often, explain the process clearly, and adapt to what you need, whether that’s structure, flexibility, or just a calm space to land.
You’re Not Broken, You’re Adapting
The ways you’ve learned to cope, shutting down, staying hyper-alert, avoiding closeness, pushing through, aren’t signs of weakness. They’re signs of strength. They were your body and brain’s best attempt to keep you safe.
In trauma therapy, we don’t pathologize your responses. We understand them as adaptations, wise, protective responses that might no longer serve you but once made perfect sense. Together, we’ll explore what safety, connection, and trust could look like now-with no shame and no rush.
Specialized Trauma Therapy Services
At Private Matters Psychotherapy, we offer trauma talk therapy as a foundational approach, along with other specialized options to support your healing journey. These include:
- EMDR therapy, an evidence-based approach designed to help you process and heal from trauma effectively.
- For those seeking accelerated healing, our EMDR Intensives provide focused, time-limited sessions that can lead to significant progress in a shorter period.
- We’re also proud to support first responders through a tailored trauma therapy program that addresses the unique challenges and experiences of emergency personnel.
Learn more about our EMDR Therapy services, EMDR Intensives, and First Responders Program.
