What Is Trauma-Informed Therapy?

Trauma-informed therapy is an approach that recognizes how past experiences—especially overwhelming or painful ones—can shape a person’s emotional world, nervous system, and relationships.

Rather than asking “What’s wrong with you?” trauma-informed work asks “What happened to you—and how did your system learn to adapt?” Trauma can have lasting effects on how we think, feel, relate, and cope, often in ways that once helped us survive.

In my work as a trauma-informed therapist, I integrate the following principles:

Safety

Creating a sense of safety is foundational. I prioritize emotional safety and pacing, helping clients feel grounded, respected, and in control of the work we do together.

For example, EMDR looks very different for someone with a single-event trauma compared to someone with long-term or complex trauma (C-PTSD). The approach is always adapted to the nervous system in front of me. Click here to learn more about this distinction.

Trust and Transparency

I am transparent about my methods, goals, and the therapeutic process. Establishing trust is essential, particularly for those whose past experiences made relationships feel unpredictable or unsafe.

Therapy works best when you understand why we’re doing what we’re doing—and when you feel free to ask questions along the way.

Choice and Empowerment

You are not a passive recipient of therapy. My clients are actively involved in decision-making and goal-setting, which helps restore a sense of agency that trauma often disrupts.

We move at your pace, and your “no” is just as important as your “yes.”

Collaboration

I believe we walk together in this work. I am not the expert on you or your inner experience—you are.

My role is to offer skill, perspective, and support while honoring your insight, intuition, and lived experience.

Cultural Humility & Power Awareness

Trauma does not exist in a vacuum. Cultural identity, systemic inequity, and power dynamics shape how trauma is experienced, expressed, and understood.

I am committed to ongoing learning around cultural humility, anti-oppressive practice, and power awareness, and I strive to create a therapeutic space that minimizes harm and avoids re-traumatization.

Resilience and Strength-Based Focus:

Trauma-informed therapy doesn’t only focus on pain—it also recognizes resilience.

Even patterns that feel frustrating or self-critical often began as intelligent ways of coping. Showing up to therapy itself is a meaningful act of strength.

Trainings & Education

Trauma-informed therapy can be delivered through many modalities. My work draws from parts and ego state work, EMDR, and attachment-based therapy, among others.

This integrative approach allows therapy to be tailored to the complexity of your experiences and relationships.

My goal is to offer therapy that is compassionate, intentional, and responsive—supporting you as you work through trauma while staying connected to yourself in the process.

Would you like to learn more about trauma-informed therapy? You are welcome to reach out through the button below.