Trauma can change the way you see yourself, your relationships, and the world around you. You may find yourself feeling constantly on edge, avoiding certain people or situations, replaying what happened, feeling disconnected or numb, or reacting in ways you don’t fully understand. Sometimes trauma is tied to one specific experience; other times, it develops from experiences that happened repeatedly over time.
At Wild Roots Counseling Services, we provide trauma-informed therapy in a supportive, nonjudgmental environment. Our goal isn’t to make you relive painful experiences or force you to talk about something before you’re ready. Instead, we’ll work together at a pace that feels manageable while helping you understand how your experiences may still be affecting you today.
Trauma Doesn’t Always Look Like Trauma
Sometimes the effects of trauma are obvious. Other times, they can show up in ways you may not immediately connect to what you’ve experienced.
You might notice anxiety, irritability, difficulty trusting others, feeling responsible for everyone around you, trouble setting boundaries, perfectionism, people-pleasing, emotional numbness, or feeling as though you’re always waiting for something to go wrong. You may understand logically that you’re safe now while your body and nervous system seem to respond as though the danger is still present.
Trauma can come from many different experiences, and you don’t need to compare what happened to you with what someone else has experienced in order for it to matter.
We Can Help With
- Trauma and PTSD
- Childhood trauma and difficult early experiences
- Relationship and interpersonal trauma
- Sexual trauma
- Medical trauma
- Birth and reproductive trauma
- Grief and traumatic loss
- First responder and occupational trauma
- Difficult or distressing life experiences
- Anxiety, hypervigilance, and feeling constantly “on edge”
- Avoidance, emotional numbness, or feeling disconnected
- Shame, guilt, and negative beliefs about yourself
What Does Trauma Therapy Look Like?
Trauma therapy isn’t about forcing you to tell your entire story or repeatedly relive painful experiences. Treatment is individualized based on your experiences, symptoms, goals, and what feels appropriate for you.
We may begin by helping you better understand your responses to trauma, identify patterns that developed as ways of coping or protecting yourself, and build skills for managing difficult emotions and feeling more grounded.
When appropriate, we can also incorporate evidence-based trauma treatments such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). These approaches can help you process traumatic experiences and address the beliefs, emotions, and patterns that may continue long after the experience itself.
Other approaches—including CBT, DBT, and elements of Internal Family Systems (IFS)—may also be incorporated depending on your individual needs.
You Are More Than What Happened to You
Trauma can influence how you see yourself, but it doesn’t have to define who you are. Therapy can help you understand the ways you’ve learned to survive, make sense of patterns that once protected you, and begin deciding what you want to carry forward—and what you may be ready to leave behind.
Healing doesn’t mean forgetting what happened or pretending it didn’t matter. It means creating more room for safety, connection, choice, and a life that isn’t organized around what happened to you.
Is Trauma Therapy Right for Me?
You don’t need to have a formal PTSD diagnosis to benefit from trauma therapy. If something you’ve experienced continues to affect the way you feel, think, respond, or relate to others, therapy can provide a place to understand those experiences and begin working toward healing.
You also don’t have to know which type of trauma treatment you need. We’ll talk about what you’re experiencing and your goals and work together to determine an approach that feels appropriate for you.
Ready to Get Started?
Reaching out for trauma therapy can feel vulnerable. You don’t need to have the right words or know exactly where to begin.
Wild Roots Counseling Services provides trauma and PTSD therapy in Bismarck, North Dakota, as well as telehealth services for clients located throughout North Dakota.
Ready when you are. Contact Wild Roots Counseling Services