“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy – the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light”.
BRENE´ BROWN
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ECW is a trauma-informed private practice offering counseling and wellness services, located in North Wilmington, Delaware. In our safe and comfortable space, our clinicians are trained and dedicated in providing a trauma-informed approach, individualized to the client.
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To truly embody something means that you FULLY feel the experience. Not only are you aware of your thoughts or mental understanding, you are also aware of your feelings and emotions within your body. It allows for a deeper understanding and leads to healing, insight, and resolution. Bridging the gap between mind, body, and spirit can lead to a happier, fuller life.
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Even if you think your struggles have nothing to do with trauma, you can still benefit from working with a trauma-informed therapist.
Trauma-Informed Therapy
This approach is based on the understanding that one’s behavior and struggles are often because of adversity or overwhelming situations that had occurred in the past. Thinking along these lines helps in creating a safe space that facilitates healing and promotes self-understanding in a non-judgmental and empowering way. This is because your therapist will be knowledgeable about the many psychological, emotional, and/or physical stressors that can impact the mind, body, and spirit. Our providers recognize that emotionally stressful and overwhelming life experiences are the root of many challenges/struggles that people face.
What is trauma?
Trauma is what happens when the stress of an event or circumstance overwhelms a person’s ability to cope. These situations vary and all include a threat or threats to one’s physical or emotional health, i.e., violence, hate crime, abuse, neglect, or anything else that causes extreme stress.
According to SAMHSA:
A traumatic event includes natural disasters, violence, threat of violence of an injury/actual harm, or neglect that impedes healthy development. The event can occur one time or repeatedly over time. Other types of experiences that can result in a traumatic reaction can be rooted in childhood. Examples can be growing up in extreme stress, being bullied, experiencing racism, witnessing interpersonal violence, or even growing up feeling misunderstood or unsafe.
We all experience things differently. How one labels meaning to the event determines whether it is traumatic. Trauma often involves feeling powerless or can lead to the question of “why me?” This can lead to feelings of shame, guilt, humiliation, or betrayal. How the event is experienced may be linked to cultural beliefs, availability of social support, or even the developmental stage of the individual (i.e., how the individual experiences something at age fifteen vs fifty).
The effects of trauma may be immediate or have a delayed on-set. Duration of the effects can vary. Some adverse effects can be:
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Inability to cope with normal stressors and strains of daily living
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Difficulty with trust and relationships
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Trouble with cognitive processes (i.e., memory, attention, thinking)
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Difficulty with regulating behavior and/or emotion
Traumatic effects can also range from hypervigilance or a constant state of arousal, to numbing or avoidance.
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How can this approach help?
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This approach is about finding strength, safety, and hope. This approach shifts the focus from deficits and brokenness to a holistic way of understanding the context of the person’s stressors and behaviors. Our goal with this approach is to prevent re- traumatization, which can interfere in recovery and healing.
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To achieve this, we strive to practice six key principles:
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We understand safety is a high priority when it comes to our clients and staff with regards to the setting and interactions.
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Our practice operations and decisions are conducted with transparency to build trust with our staff and our clients.
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We provide resources to help increase one’s peer support as this can help with safety, trust, and hope. We plan to work towards building this type of support within our practice.
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We recognize that everyone has a role in a trauma-informed approach, therefore we place an importance on partnership and collaboration.
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Cultivating self-advocacy skills are important, so we focus on empowering one to use their voice in making choices in their healing and journey.
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We move past cultural, historical, and gender stereotypes and biases. We incorporate policies, processes, and protocols, that are responsive to the racial, ethnic, and cultural needs of the client we serve while recognizing and addressing historical trauma. We also honor traditional cultures of our clients and communities.
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If you would like more information, or to schedule a consult, please contact us. We would love to hear from you and help you take the next step in your journey.