Trauma Therapy
in Pasadena & Palm Desert and all of California Online
Do You Find Yourself Stuck In Old Patterns That Feel Impossible To Break?
Have you struggled all your life with self-doubt, low self-worth, and feelings of insecurity? Do you continually:
End up in relationships that are toxic, narcissistic, or abusive?
Struggle to set boundaries and assert yourself confidently?
Have trouble identifying and expressing your feelings?
Maybe you’ve always felt a deep sense of sadness or despair, but you’re not sure why. Perhaps you’re overly reactive to everything around you—the smallest things get under your skin, and you find yourself unable to regulate when you’re stressed. You might struggle with poor decision-making and turn to destructive habits to help you manage your emotional pain.
For the first time, maybe you’re asking yourself if your challenges are connected to unresolved trauma in your past.
Trauma Makes Your Whole World Feel Small
As I often say, there is no “I” in trauma. It takes away your sense of agency and makes you feel disconnected from your true self, like you’re a passive observer in your own life. Trauma makes your world feel small and limited, as if you don’t have many choices and you’re confined to play out the same unhealthy patterns over and over.
You might continually end up in relationships that aren’t reciprocal—you burn yourself out trying to take care of other people’s needs, but they don’t take care of yours. As a result, your life probably has little space for self-care and your relationships may leave you feeling empty and frustrated.
Thankfully, there is another way to live.
As the founder of Mindful Empowerment Counseling, it’s my mission to help you heal the emotional wounds that are holding you back from your full potential. Through a holistic, mind-body centered approach to therapy, I’m confident that I can empower you to disentangle the knots of your trauma and find the thread that leads you home to healing and restoration.
Have a Question or Want to Schedule a Session, Reach Out!
Many People Experience Trauma Without Even Realizing It
If you’ve ever told yourself, “My experience wasn’t that bad,” or, “Why would I be traumatized? Everyone else in my family turned out fine,” you wouldn’t be the only one. The truth is that the vast majority of people suffer from trauma without even knowing it. They tend to think of trauma as purely the result of extreme violence or physical abuse, not mundane experiences that happen to all of us.
In many cases, trauma happens in increments that build up over long periods of time. Growing up in a household that doesn’t believe in expressing emotions can be traumatic, as can being stuck in a toxic relationship where trust is repeatedly broken.
Trauma can be societal, too—most women have trauma from living in a patriarchal culture that doesn’t allow them to fully embrace who they are or enjoy the same freedoms as men. It’s these “little t” traumas that I see most in my clients, the traumas that slowly and imperceptibly weaken their sense of self and teach them that the world is not safe.
Healing Trauma Means Weaving A New Narrative For Yourself—And That’s Easier Said Than Done
One of the most common lines I hear from clients is: “I’ve always been this way.” They assume that the patterns dictating their life will simply always be there and have a hard time imagining a life where they act differently. Because of how trauma has disempowered them and stripped away their sense of agency, they don’t realize how many choices they really have.
Becoming aware of the thoughts and feelings that inform your actions is essential for change. You can’t break out of old—often lifelong—patterns when you don’t fully understand what those patterns are, where they came from, and how they’re impacting you today.
Therapy is about stepping back and taking a bird’s eye view of your life. It’s about asking yourself “Why am I doing what I’m doing?” and using your newfound awareness to create a new narrative for yourself—one that fosters healing, change, and transformation.
Trauma Therapy Is About Healing The Whole Person, Inside And Out
Trauma affects your mind, body, and every area of your life. That’s why my approach to trauma therapy addresses the whole person. I want to help you experience full and lasting healing, not just temporary relief. To do so, I’ll draw from a range of integrative, evidence-based, and body-centered approaches. During our time together, you and I will work on deepening your self-awareness, recreating the feeling of safety in the body, and increasing your sense of agency and empowerment.
What To Expect In Trauma Counseling Sessions
I believe that words are incredibly powerful. As a trauma therapist, I will pay close attention to the words you use—and the words you don’t use—while looking for ways to reframe the thoughts, feelings, and narratives that are subconsciously controlling your life. I’ll help you identify blind spots and maladaptive patterns and suggest narratives and tools that emphasize empowerment and agency.
By the end of our work together, my hope is that you will have:
More clarity and confidence in the choices you make
Relationships with less conflict and more constructive conversations
Practical tools for coping with your emotional challenges
A stronger sense of community and of being heard and understood
A deeper understanding of how social and cultural values impact your mental health
We will work through these areas of skill-building in an environment of safety, collaboration, and empowerment. Sessions will move at a pace that’s right for you, as I always customize my approach based on each client’s needs, goals, and comfort level.
Tailoring My Approach To Trauma Treatment
The foundation of my practice is rooted in the wisdom of the mind-body connection. By integrating breathwork, changes in posture, and nonverbal forms of communication, I can help you understand how trauma shows up in your body while giving you body-based tools for releasing post-traumatic stress. We’ll interweave this body work with a wide range of practical and insight-based approaches, including:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to explore new ways of thinking and eliminate unhelpful beliefs and thought patterns
Solution-Focused Therapy to identify your strengths and build on what’s already working for you
Communication Skills Training to help you feel more connected, understood, and confident in your relationships
Narrative Therapy to explore your story with fresh eyes and create new scripts that support healing and recovery
Humanistic Therapy to help you examine your values and stay focused on what matters most to you
Through a comprehensive, trauma-informed approach to therapy, I’m confident that I can enable you to put the pain of the past behind you and rewrite your story from a more empowering perspective. Trauma may be debilitating, but it doesn’t have to define your story or hold you back from growing into the person you were always meant to be.
You May Have Some Questions About Trauma Counseling…
Won’t talking about my trauma just make me feel worse?
Treating trauma is like treating a wound—cleaning it isn’t painless, but it ensures that the wound can scab and heal properly. Therapy gives you the tools, skills, and insights to accelerate the trauma recovery process and ensure your emotional wounds don’t get “reinfected.”
What’s more, chances are that your traumatic experience has already sent you to some fairly dark and uncomfortable places. So even though going to therapy may feel strange at first, the truth is that it’s far, far less uncomfortable than continuing to put off your recovery.
What if people judge me for going to therapy?
The good news is that my sessions are confidential, so you don’t have to worry about other people finding out. It’s also worth considering that if other people judge you for going to therapy, that says more about who they are than who you are. Addressing your mental health is an act of courage; additionally, therapy can give you the tools to cope with other people’s judgments of you.
Will therapy really help me heal my trauma?
Therapy is not a magic wand, but it is a catalyst for deep and meaningful change. Trauma that has affected your whole life does not disappear in an instant, but with patience, courage, and humility as well as a willingness to be vulnerable, it really can heal. So whether your experience took place in your early childhood or as an adult, I’m confident that trauma therapy can help.
Your Story Doesn’t Begin And End With Trauma
Together, let’s turn pain into movement and create a new life story that empowers you with hope for the future. To learn more about how I approach trauma therapy, you can use the contact page to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation.
Offering virtual and in-person trauma counseling services to clients in Palm Desert and Pasadena, California.
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Trauma Therapy in Pasadena, CA
595 E Colorado Blvd STE 205, Pasadena, CA 91101
Trauma Therapy in Palm Desert, CA
73550 Alessandro Dr STE 200, Palm Desert, CA 92260