Many people have heard of trauma but most don’t recognize it in themselves. Trauma often shows up in things that trigger us such as a look, a smell, a location, or a memory. These triggers cause our thoughts to race, or make us feel hurt, angry, anxious, hyper-emotional, numb, or cause our minds to “float away”.

Trauma doesn’t have to come from horrific abuse or neglect. It can come from more common experiences such as being bullied, difficult divorce, moving around a lot, or witnessing death, fire or an accident. When we experience a trigger (anything that reminds us of traumatic events), the unprocessed memory is re-engaged and we feel all the emotions we felt then. This process happens, again and again, in a self-perpetuating loop, until the old, original experience is processed. Best Life Counseling uses trauma-focused, evidence-based techniques to process what needs to be processed and stop this cycle.