Lee Crawford

HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED A TRAUMA?     DO YOU LIVE WITH ONGOING STRESS?

Trauma can sometimes begin with a perceived life threat or from cumulative or extreme stress. Have you experienced…

• The loss of someone close to you

• Witnessing a traumatic event

• Medical trauma or chronic illness

• Physical, Sexual or emotional abuse

• Negative parenting

• Birth Trauma and separation at birth

• Ongoing fear and conflict

• Anticipating the loss of someone you love

• Sexual assault

• Car accidents and injuries

• Unpredictable life stress

The Journey of Recovery and reclaiming your life.

How Body Psychotherapy supports recovery from ongoing stress and Trauma

• Trauma disrupts healthy functioning in the nervous system, the brain, ones personality, behavior patterns, physical and mental health and how we connect with others. The integrative approach of body psychotherapy is an effective method for recovering from overwhelming life experiences.
   

• The relationship between the client and the therapist is collaborative, providing a base of emotional safety and supporting the client’s timing and pacing in reducing the symptoms of trauma. The balance of verbal and emotional expression, body-mind skills and talk therapy is determined by the client’s intentions for healing.
   

• This method of therapy views a person’s body as having a functional unity between the body and the mind or “body-mind”. Restoring health and wellbeing involves building a bridge between our thoughts, emotions, and our experiences held in the body.

• Bringing awareness to body sensations, energy in the muscles and other body based experiences form a foundation for linking thoughts, memories, emotions, and images to current or historic trauma and ongoing stress patterns.
   

• Trauma dysregulates the nervous system; we experience hyper- arousal (stuck on on) or hypo- arousal (stuck on off).  The therapeutic relationship together with learning self-regulation skills support the body’s ability to respond to stress without getting triggered in  arousal patterns. Learning to manage arousal reactions supports one’s ability to orient to the here and now, make decisions and relate with others while staying calm and present. 
   

• By restoring physical and emotional regulations in the body, resources for choice, forming new goals, self-support and self-compassion are re- discovered.

How Trauma Therapy supports you to heal.
 

• Develop skills and to manage the symptoms of ongoing stress and trauma by interrupting automatic survival reactions and the loop of feeling stuck.

• Manage your reactions by learning to balance your nervous system to reduce hyper-arousal or hypo- arousal (fight, flight, freeze). 

• Learn body-mind skills to manage symptoms of anxiety and depression. 

• Shift your perceptions and beliefs about trusting your body as a resource for healing.

• Reduce being triggered by traumatic memories or the experience of feeling disoriented.

• Reclaim feeling empowered, confident, and connected to your authentic self.

• Experience more fulfilling relationships and create secure connections with others.

• Take steps towards fulfilling personal goals, finding direction or new meaning in life.