Trauma Therapy

Trauma-Informed Therapy for Emotional Healing, Nervous System Support, and Reconnection with Self (MA, NH, ME, RI)

Trauma can affect the way we experience emotions, relationships, safety, identity, and connection to ourselves. Sometimes trauma is connected to a single overwhelming experience. Other times it develops slowly through chronic stress, relational wounds, invalidation, attachment injuries, discrimination, or long periods of survival mode.

Trauma therapy can support adults navigating nervous system overwhelm, emotional reactivity, shutdown, dissociation, chronic anxiety, relationship struggles, burnout, and difficulties feeling safe or connected in daily life. I provide telehealth trauma-informed therapy for adults in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island.

Rather than viewing trauma as something “wrong” with you, I approach trauma as the nervous system and protective parts of the self adapting in the ways they knew how to survive.

Therapy is not about forcing people to relive painful experiences or pushing healing before safety exists. It is about creating space for understanding, regulation, self-compassion, and reconnection.

Trauma Can Affect More Than Memories

Trauma is often carried not only in thoughts or memories, but also in the nervous system, emotions, body, relationships, and patterns of self-protection.

Trauma responses may include:

chronic anxiety or hypervigilance
emotional overwhelm
shutdown or numbness
dissociation
panic attacks
difficulty trusting others
people pleasing or overfunctioning
perfectionism
emotional reactivity
feeling disconnected from yourself or your needs

Many people living with trauma describe feeling like they are constantly bracing for something, even when they logically know they are safe.

Therapy can help bring awareness and compassion to these patterns rather than shame or self-blame.

Trauma and the Nervous System

The nervous system plays a major role in trauma responses.

When the nervous system experiences prolonged stress or overwhelm, it may adapt by moving into patterns of:

fight
flight
freeze
shutdown
hypervigilance
dissociation

These responses are not failures. They are protective adaptations developed to help someone survive emotionally or physically overwhelming experiences.

Trauma-informed therapy helps individuals better understand their nervous system responses while building greater capacity for regulation, flexibility, and safety.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Trauma

I often integrate Internal Family Systems informed perspectives into trauma work.

IFS understands that people naturally develop different “parts” of themselves over time, especially in response to stress, pain, or trauma.

For example, someone may have:

protective parts that overwork, people please, or stay hypervigilant
critical parts that try to prevent rejection or failure
shutdown parts that disconnect emotionally to avoid overwhelm
younger wounded parts carrying fear, shame, loneliness, or grief

Rather than seeing these parts as problems, IFS approaches them with curiosity and compassion.

Many trauma responses make more sense when understood as protective strategies developed to help someone survive difficult experiences.

Therapy can help individuals build safer relationships with these parts of themselves rather than fighting against them.

Relational Trauma and Attachment Wounds

Not all trauma comes from major catastrophic events.

Trauma can also develop through:

chronic emotional invalidation
unpredictable caregiving
attachment injuries
bullying or exclusion
identity-based harm
unsafe relationships
repeated experiences of not feeling emotionally safe

Relational trauma often affects how people experience closeness, vulnerability, trust, and emotional regulation.

This may look like:

fear of abandonment
difficulty trusting others
emotional withdrawal
people pleasing
intense sensitivity to rejection
difficulty expressing needs

Therapy can help individuals better understand these patterns while building greater emotional safety and connection.

Trauma, Identity, and Chronic Stress

Trauma can also intersect with identity and lived experience.

For LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, disabled, chronically ill, kinky, or marginalized individuals, trauma may include:

masking or hiding parts of self
chronic social stress
invalidation
discrimination
medical trauma
relational rejection

Healing often involves not only processing painful experiences, but also rebuilding connection to authenticity, self-trust, and community.

Affirming therapy recognizes the broader systems and environments that shape emotional wellbeing.

Trauma, Burnout, and Survival Mode

Many people living with trauma spend years functioning in survival mode without realizing how much stress their nervous system has been carrying.

This can contribute to:

chronic burnout
emotional exhaustion
difficulty resting
overfunctioning
hyperindependence
feeling emotionally disconnected

Therapy can help individuals begin shifting from constant survival into greater presence, flexibility, and self-awareness.

My Approach to Trauma Therapy

My approach to trauma work is relational, affirming, trauma informed, and grounded in nervous system awareness.

I do not approach trauma healing from a pathologizing or “fixing” framework. Instead, therapy focuses on understanding how protective patterns developed and what support is needed now.

Together we may explore:

nervous system responses
emotional regulation
attachment patterns
protective coping strategies
identity and lived experience
boundaries and relational safety
reconnecting with self

I integrate approaches such as:

Internal Family Systems informed work
attachment focused therapy
emotion focused processing
nervous system regulation and awareness

Trauma therapy is not about becoming a different person. It is about developing a more compassionate relationship with the parts of yourself that learned how to survive.

Who I Work With

I work with adults navigating:

complex trauma
attachment trauma
relational trauma
chronic stress and burnout
emotional overwhelm
dissociation or shutdown
anxiety and panic
identity related stress
nervous system dysregulation

Many clients also seek support for:

ADHD or autism related overwhelm
relationship struggles
people pleasing and overfunctioning
grief and loss
self-worth concerns

Telehealth Trauma Therapy (MA, NH, ME, RI)

I provide virtual trauma-informed therapy for adults located in:

Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Maine
Rhode Island

Telehealth allows therapy to occur from a familiar environment that may feel more comfortable and regulating for many clients.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is trauma-informed therapy?

Trauma-informed therapy recognizes how overwhelming experiences, chronic stress, and nervous system adaptations affect emotions, relationships, identity, and wellbeing. Therapy focuses on safety, understanding, and sustainable healing rather than forcing disclosure or reliving trauma.

What is complex trauma?

Complex trauma often develops through repeated or prolonged experiences of stress, emotional harm, relational wounds, or unsafe environments over time.

Do you use Internal Family Systems (IFS) in trauma therapy?

I integrate Internal Family Systems informed perspectives into my work. IFS helps individuals understand protective parts of themselves with greater compassion and curiosity rather than shame or self-criticism.

Related Specialties

Next Steps

Trauma can shape the way people experience safety, emotions, relationships, and connection to themselves. Healing is often less about “getting over it” and more about developing greater understanding, flexibility, and compassion toward the parts of yourself that learned how to survive.

Therapy can provide a space to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and move toward a life that feels more grounded, authentic, and emotionally sustainable.