Unmasking Hope: Trauma-Responsive Anxiety Therapy in San Francisco

Setting the Stage: The Power of Unmasking Hope in Anxiety Therapy

For those people who have been living with anxiety due to trauma, life can feel unbearably difficult. Every day can involve battling with a nervous system that has been primed for fear and anxiety. It feels impossible to catch your breath, to relax, or to plan for your life when your whole body is screaming “danger!” However, trauma responsive therapy that addresses anxiety can offer hope to clients that are suffering with the aftermath of psychological trauma.

Behind the Mask: Understanding Trauma in San Francisco

The American Psychological Association defines trauma as “any disturbing experience that results in significant fear, helplessness, dissociation, confusion, or other disruptive feelings intense enough to have a long-lasting negative effect on a person’s attitudes, behavior, and other aspects of functioning.” Trauma can result from a one time event such as an assault or from a multitude of smaller events that also disrupt a person’s life and functioning. The phrase developmental trauma refers to trauma that happens in childhood, or as one develops. Since all human beings are different, an event may cause trauma for one person but another person could experience the same event or a similar incident and not feel traumatized. This means that comparing traumas may not provide any kind of insight.

The Therapy Masquerade: Unveiling Trauma-Responsive Techniques via Anxiety Therapy San Francisco

When addressing trauma and its after effects, it is important to note that the anxiety that appears after trauma functions to try and keep the person safe. It may be difficult for someone who has experienced trauma to feel they are safe enough to let go of the hypervigilance, ruminating thoughts, and other symptoms. The first goal in therapy is to give coping skills for this tremendous anxiety. Through these coping skills, little by little, the therapist helps the client build a sense of safety in the body. With that new sense of safety, the client can eventually face the trauma that caused the anxiety in the first place.

Masquerade Ball: Interactive Elements of Anxiety Therapy San Francisco

Although starting anxiety therapy for trauma may sound daunting at first, there can be lighter and joyful moments on the road to healing. Since being in the body can feel unsafe, a skilled therapist may use somatic techniques such as dance therapy to help the client connect with their body again. The client learns what feels GOOD and SAFE in their body and using movement can be a great way to do that. Movement can also help clients process trauma that may feel stuck in the body—trauma that words can‘t access or change.

Beyond the Session: Integrating Unmasked Hope into Daily Life

After the processing of trauma, the goal of therapy is to send you off into the world with the tools to live a calmer, more fulfilling life. If you are ready to start on this journey to heal your trauma via anxiety therapy San Francisco, please email me at lisa@lisamanca.com.

References:

APA Dictionary of Psychology. (n.d.). https://dictionary.apa.org/trauma