Trauma Psychology and Treatment

Trauma-informed care involves psychological treatment that recognizes the impact of trauma in an individual’s functioning in everyday life. Clinicians at CFIR provide a caring, compassionate, collaborative, and confidential space to facilitate this healing process. Clinicians providing trauma-informed care are also sensitive to your healing process in the aftermath of traumatic life events. Clinicians at CFIR are also sensitive and in tune with the complexity of trauma when socio-cultural forms of oppression and trauma (i.e., race, gender, sexual orientation oppression) overlap with trauma experiences.

Traumatic experiences may leave an indelible imprint on our sense of self, others, and the world. Memories of such events and the re-activation of these memories in everyday life (i.e., triggering events) can create high levels of emotional distress and dysregulation, alter one’s sense of self, identity, reality, and relationships, and may have an impact on one’s daily functioning.

At our practice, we provide a safe, supportive space to process and heal from acute trauma. Our therapists use evidence-based approaches—such as EMDR, somatic therapies, parts-based, and trauma-informed talk therapy—to help clients:

Process the traumatic memory without becoming overwhelmed
Reduce symptoms like hypervigilance, anxiety, or nightmares
Restore a sense of safety, agency, and emotional regulation
Reconnect with themselves and others in meaningful ways

Clinicians at CFIR provide integrated trauma-informed treatment, using various evidence-based treatments, including trauma-focused, psychodynamic, attachment-based, somatic, parts-based based and EMDR. Whether a one-time incident (e.g.., being in or witnessing a car accident, a physical or sexual assault, being tortured or in war, etc.) or repeated exposure (e.g.., childhood emotional, physical, sexual abuse, or emotional and physical deprivation, bullying, to a trauma-inducing experience), clinicians at CFIR are well-trained to address the different types of trauma and use a variety of different kinds of treatment to support you in your recovery.

Acute/Single-Event Trauma

Acute or single-event trauma refers to the psychological and emotional impact of a distressing event that happens suddenly and without warning. These events often overwhelm a person’s ability to cope in the moment and may leave lasting effects on their sense of safety, control, and well-being. Single-event traumas could include a car accident or serious injury, natural disasters (e.g., earthquake, flood), physical or sexual assault, sudden loss or life-threatening situation, medical emergencies or invasive procedures.

People may experience the following after a traumatic event:

Hyperarousal (Over-Activation):

Heightened alertness or hypervigilance
Recurrent nightmares, night terrors, flashbacks
Emotional overwhelm, panic, racing thoughts
Irritability, anger, defensive responses
Impulsivity, hypersexuality, substance abuse, self-harm, addictions
Suicidal ideation

Hypoarousal (Under-Activation):

Persistent fatigue or excessive sleep
Emotional numbness, social withdrawal
Chronic shame and/or self-blame
Cognitive difficulties (e.g., fogginess, inattention)

While not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will develop long-term symptoms, it’s common to experience shock, fear, anxiety, intrusive memories, or emotional numbing afterward. For some, these symptoms naturally resolve with time and support. For others, the effects may persist and interfere with daily life—sometimes leading to conditions like Acute Stress Disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Acute Stress Disorder (ASD):

Exposure to a traumatic event involving actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violation
Symptoms across five domains:
- Intrusion: Flashbacks, nightmares, involuntary distressing memories
- Negative Mood: Inability to experience positive emotions
- Dissociation: Altered sense of reality or memory gaps
- Avoidance: Efforts to avoid reminders (internal or external)
- Arousal: Sleep disturbances, hypervigilance, irritability, concentration issues

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

Persistent re-experiencing of the trauma (e.g., flashbacks, intrusive thoughts)
Avoidance of trauma-related stimuli
Negative alterations in cognition and mood
Heightened arousal and reactivity (e.g., exaggerated startle response, insomnia, anger)

Complex/Long-Term Trauma

Complex trauma often arises from repeated or prolonged experiences of distress, particularly in relationships where safety and care should have been expected. While it frequently stems from childhood experiences—such as emotional, physical, or sexual abuse; neglect; abandonment; or ongoing exposure to chaos or instability—it can also result from long-term exposure to emotionally harmful relationships or environments in adulthood. These experiences can disrupt a person’s sense of self, identity, emotional regulation, and ability to form secure relationships. When attachment figures like parents or caregivers are unavailable, unpredictable, or become sources of harm, children may adapt by disconnecting from their emotions, developing protective coping strategies, or internalizing shame and self-blame. Over time, these adaptations can lead to chronic anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, dissociation, and low self-worth.

Complex trauma is not always rooted in childhood. Repeated relational betrayals, emotional invalidation, or exposure to unsafe environments in adulthood can also leave deep psychological wounds. Even social trauma—such as bullying, exclusion, or ongoing rejection by peers or siblings—can create lasting patterns of social fear, isolation, or mistrust. Complex trauma can also stem from systemic sources such as war, displacement, and oppression. Experiences like combat, forced migration, racism, and marginalization can leave lasting psychological and physiological impacts, shaping a person’s sense of identity, safety, and belonging.

People who have experienced complex, chronic, long-standing trauma may develop Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), Dissociative Disorders, and/or Personality Disorders.

Complex PTSD (C-PTSD):

All core features of PTSD, with additional symptoms including:
- Chronic exposure to trauma (often relational or developmental)
- Enduring negative self-perception (e.g., guilt, shame, worthlessness)
- Emotional dysregulation (e.g., panic, rage)
- Relational disturbances (e.g., mistrust, dependency, withdrawal)
- Psychosomatic symptoms (e.g., chronic pain, unexplained physical issues)

Dissociative Disorders:

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID):
- Disruption in identity with two or more distinct personality states
- Memory gaps inconsistent with normal forgetting
- Significant impairment in daily functioning
Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder:
- Recurrent episodes of depersonalization (feeling detached from self) and/or derealization (feeling detached from reality)
Dissociative Amnesia:
- Inability to recall important autobiographical information, typically related to trauma. May be localized, selective, or generalized.

Evidence-Based and Trauma-Informed Approaches

CFIR clinicians utilize an integrative framework, incorporating a trauma-informed lens alongside empirically supported treatments tailored to the client’s needs and goals.

Modalities of Trauma Treatment

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR):

EMDR is a structured, evidence-based psychotherapy that enables clients to process and resolve traumatic memories through bilateral stimulation—typically eye movements, but sometimes auditory tones or tactile inputs. This process reduces emotional distress associated with the trauma and helps reframe maladaptive beliefs, allowing for more adaptive integration of the experience.

Somatic Experiencing (SE):

SE is a body-focused therapeutic approach developed by Dr. Peter Levine to help individuals release trauma-related tension stored in the body. SE emphasizes tracking bodily sensations and unresolved physiological responses triggered by past trauma. By increasing awareness of these sensations, clients can gradually process and discharge trauma-related energy, allowing for nervous system regulation and healing.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP):

SP is a somatic approach developed by Dr. Pat Ogden that integrates body awareness with cognitive and emotional processing. SP helps clients become mindful of physical sensations, posture, and movement patterns that reflect unresolved trauma responses. By tracking these bodily experiences in the present moment, clients can safely complete “stuck” survival responses (e.g., fight, flight, freeze), reduce physiological arousal, and restore nervous system regulation.

Polyvagal Therapies:

Polyvagal Theory, formulated by Dr. Stephen Porges, provides a neurobiological framework for understanding emotional and physiological regulation. It identifies three autonomic states—dorsal vagal (shutdown), sympathetic (fight/flight), and ventral vagal (social engagement). Therapeutic work involves helping clients recognize their nervous system states and develop strategies for co-regulation and self-regulation.

Parts Work Therapies (IFS, Inner Child Work, TIST):

These approaches conceptualize the psyche as consisting of distinct “parts”, each with its own emotions, beliefs, and roles. Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) use this framework to help clients recognize and work with protective parts that manage distress and wounded parts that carry unresolved trauma. By increasing awareness and compassion for these internal parts, clients can reduce internal conflict, foster integration, and develop a more cohesive and regulated sense of self. Inner child work allows re-engagement with earlier developmental experiences to foster healing and integration. The aim is to restore balance, increase self-leadership, and create internal cohesion.

Find A Therapist

We have many mental health therapists at each of our locations who offer this service. Please select a location below to see a list:

Trauma Psychology and Treatment