Trauma Counseling in Florida
Wesley Chapel, Tampa, Lutz, Dade City, and Nearby Areas
What is trauma?
There are many different ways to understand the nature of trauma. The most basic way is to view it as a mental or emotional injury. Traumatic events are experiences that overwhelm us psychologically. How an individual is affected varies from person to person. Just as two people can be out in the sun for the exact same amount of time and walk away with different degrees of sunburn, two people can experience the same event and walk away with different levels of trauma.
One way to envision this is to imagine your stress response like a pot of water on the stove with a lid covering it. The challenges of life turn up the heat, and your body has ways to release that pressure through movement, rest, connection, and other coping strategies. But when the heat keeps rising and the pressure can’t escape, the water eventually boils over. Trauma happens when life’s stress exceeds what your body and mind can safely manage. We all have different capacities, support, and resources, so what feels overwhelming for one person may be manageable for another.
It is not a sign of weakness or moral failure if you need help to recover from the impact of trauma. We offer Trauma Counseling to Tampa, Wesley Chapel, Lutz, and nearby areas, as well as online video counseling throughout the state of Florida.
Some symptoms following a traumatic event may include:
Shock, numbness, or disbelief
Feeling disconnected from others or even your own body
Confusion, difficulty concentrating
Anger, irritability, mood swings
Anxiety and fear
Guilt, shame, self-blame
Feeling sad or hopeless
Headaches, fatigue, digestive disturbances
Racing heart or jumpy feeling
Changes in sleep or appetite
Don’t dismiss the validity of your trauma.
It is unkind and unproductive to tell yourself or others that they should not be traumatized by whatever events overwhelmed them and caused psychic injury. The reality is that once trauma has occurred, shaming the wounded person will not lead to healing. Trauma is rooted in a sense of danger and triggers the body’s primitive fight, flight, or freeze response. Therefore, healing from trauma begins by establishing environmental and relational safety.
“You are safe with us.”
Plants, animals, and people have basic needs that must be met in order to survive and thrive. Food, water, and shelter are considered essential survival needs for all living things.
Safety is a fundamental need to thrive. It’s possible to survive in danger, but very difficult to thrive without a safe environment. That is why we strive to ensure that you have foundational emotional safety in our sessions. Seeking mental, emotional, and spiritual guidance for yourself and your loved ones can be intimidating. We want you to feel able to speak freely without encountering judgment. We humbly count it our privilege to work with you. You are safe with us.
When does a traumatic injury lead to a mental illness?
Few people make it through life unscathed or unimpacted by trauma. Thankfully, God made our brains able to heal just like other parts of our bodies and many people are able to recover from the mental injuries sustained through traumatic events. However, sometimes a trauma injury is severe, pervasive and deep.
This may lead to the wounded person developing a trauma-related mental health condition, like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Even when this occurs, it is important to note that this is a mental illness that one can typically recover from with the proper treatment.
In addition to those previously listed, some symptoms of PTSD may include:
Nightmares or Flashbacks
Severe anxiety or repetitious trauma-related thoughts
Persistent feelings of detachment
Hyperarousal and/or hypervigilance
Emotional distress after exposure to traumatic reminders
Physical reactivity after exposure to traumatic reminders
Therapy can help you heal.
At Boundless Hope Counseling, our therapists are well-trained and supervised, utilizing a variety of evidence-based therapeutic modalities and strategies. EMDR can be invaluable for trauma recovery. We recognize that you spend most of your life outside of our offices. Therefore, regardless of the treatment plan you choose, we will teach you coping skills, such as grounding exercises or mindfulness, to help you navigate the symptoms of your trauma.
Trauma is painful and it is understandable that you may want to avoid the pain of facing the events that have wounded you. However, just as an untreated physical wound may become infected and make your whole body sick, unacknowledged or unprocessed emotional wounds can negatively impact many areas of your life. You don’t have to face recovery alone. If you would like us to join you on your sacred journey, email or call us to schedule a FREE 15-minute phone consultation.