IFS Therapy for Trauma
Does the aftermath of a traumatic experience continue to impact you today?
As you go about your day, do painful reminders of those events suddenly come up?
Or, maybe you’re aware that something traumatic happened and yet have trouble remembering the details?
Even when a traumatic or devaluing event happened decades ago, you may feel like it was just yesterday. On the outside, you might look like you’ve got it all together, but privately feel disconnected from yourself and exhausted all the time. It may be of little comfort to hear that even extreme reactions are considered normal in the face of abnormal or threatening events. Fortunately, even if you can’t change the past, you can change the impact it has on you today.
It’s never too late to free yourself from the grip of trauma and reclaim your purpose, your power and your Self.
The impact of trauma may be experienced as:
Re-experiencing the trauma through sight, sound, smell, memory, physical sensations, even while sleeping or when relaxed
Irritability, angry outbursts, or aggressive behavior
Little to no interest in previously enjoyable activities
Distressing internal cues, like sweating, increased heart rate, shallow breathing, muscle tension, sensitivity to sounds, digestive distress
Overwhelming guilt or shame
Blaming yourself or others as the cause of the trauma
Hopelessness
Exerting a lot of energy to prevent feeling vulnerable to getting hurt again
Avoiding potential reminders of the traumatizing event
Difficulty falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much
Relying on meditation, work, sex, exercise, food, or other substances and behaviors to distract from and escape trauma reminders
Difficulty concentrating or difficulty remembering much of your past
Social withdrawal, feeling disconnected from others, or distrustfulness of yourself or others
Imagine a life where thriving is possible, and within reach
You do not have to live your life in an ongoing internal battle between wanting closeness and fearing it. You do not have to live the rest of your life in fear of imminent danger, feeling isolated from others, lonely, guarded, and blaming yourself. There is hope.
More than coping, IFS transforms trauma
Internal Family Systems therapy is an evidenced-based approach, with research demonstrating its significant, positive effects on adults with PTSD and childhood trauma.
Whether it’s big “T” trauma like an accident, assault, physical or sexual abuse, war, natural disasters, or other threats — including the traumatic impacts of oppressive systems and marginalization — or small “t” traumas caused by more common painful events like rejection, attachment wounds, grief, and loss, IFS is an approach that safely and effectively helps you feel whole again.
In collaboration with a trained IFS therapist you’ll find resources inside to heal the emotional burdens and beliefs holding you back. With liberated parts and restored trust in your Self, more energy become available so you can live your life and thrive.
You can heal your trauma without reliving it
Even considering therapy is an act of courage. For many people impacted by trauma, therapy can seem like an extremely vulnerable option. It may seem especially so when many traumatic experiences occur within a relationship to someone you trusted or depended on.
With IFS, we trust that even the most wounded or extreme parts of us can be healed and their natural gifts be reclaimed. As a caring and respectful guide, your IFS therapist will understand how to safely approach traumatized parts without creating emotional overwhelm, and can offer tools between sessions to support your progress.
Built into IFS is the respect for the ways you’ve learned to protect yourself, including the protective parts of you concerned about overwhelm. It is a self-correcting model of therapy designed to prevent you from becoming overwhelmed or re-traumatized. Clients are in the driver’s seat supported by a therapist experienced in navigating the inner world. Everything that occurs in therapy happens collaboratively, safely and never forcefully.
Begin IFS therapy for trauma at The IFS Telehealth Collective
With IFS, your pace is respected and honored with complete confidence that you’re neither damaged nor broken. Therapists at The IFS Telehealth Collective deeply trust your ability to heal and will provide guidance while you discover who you truly are, underneath the burdens that constrain you. Though everyone's journey is uniquely their own, in time, you, too, will know you’re worthy of love and connection. Whether or not you can imagine it now, who you are down deep is, without a doubt, worth discovering and every part of you is worth embracing.
You’ve managed to survive. Are you ready to thrive?
If you want to begin your healing journey and live anywhere in California, Florida, Oregon, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New York, you can connect with online therapists to help you find the peace that you desire.
Let one of our skilled IFS therapists help you on your healing journey.
