Trauma/PTSD Therapy

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a form of psychotherapy that views the mind as containing different “parts,” each with its own thoughts, emotions, needs, and roles. IFS proposes that these parts often develop as ways of protecting a person from emotional pain or difficult experiences. The therapy focuses on understanding and developing a compassionate relationship with these parts rather than judging or trying to eliminate them.

IFS also describes a core sense of self characterized by qualities such as calmness, curiosity, compassion, and confidence. The therapist helps the client access this sense of self and better understand the roles and intentions of their different parts.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured, evidence-based therapy approach designed to help people process and recover from distressing or traumatic memories. During EMDR, a therapist guides the person in briefly focusing on a traumatic memory while simultaneously engaging in bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements, alternating sounds, or tapping, which activates both sides of the brain. The goal is to help the person process the memory so that it becomes less emotionally distressing and no longer causes the same level of disruption.

Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) is a therapy designed to help people process traumatic experiences by creating a detailed, chronological narrative of their life. With guidance from a therapist, the person describes both positive and negative life experiences, including traumatic events. This can help organize fragmented or distressing memories into a coherent life story and reduce trauma-related symptoms.

Somatic therapies, also called body-based therapies, are approaches that recognize the connection between the mind, emotions, and body. They focus on how stress and trauma may be experienced through physical sensations, muscle tension, breathing patterns, movement, or nervous-system responses. Treatment may help a person develop greater awareness of these bodily experiences and learn ways to regulate their responses.

Trauma-informed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an approach that uses the principles of ACT while emphasizing safety, choice, collaboration, empowerment, and sensitivity to the effects of trauma. ACT helps individuals develop psychological flexibility—the ability to experience difficult thoughts and emotions without being controlled by them while taking actions that are consistent with their personal values.

A trauma-informed ACT approach recognizes that avoidance, emotional distress, hypervigilance, or other protective responses may have developed as ways of coping with traumatic experiences. Rather than judging these responses, the therapist works collaboratively with the client to understand them and develop safer, more flexible ways of responding.

Trauma-informed attachment-based therapy is an approach that explores how early relationships, caregiving experiences, and trauma can influence a person's sense of safety, trust, emotional regulation, self-worth, and relationships with others. It recognizes that behaviors such as withdrawal, difficulty trusting, people-pleasing, or fear of abandonment may have developed as adaptive responses to past experiences.

A trauma-informed therapist prioritizes safety, trust, choice, collaboration, and emotional pacing while helping the individual develop healthier patterns of connection and a stronger sense of security.