Trauma Therapy in
Union Square
Has Trauma Reshaped The Lens Through Which You See The World?
Have you experienced something so distressing that you find yourself constantly checking your surroundings or scanning your environment for danger? Or have you experienced abuse, emotional neglect or abandonment? Is your life being controlled by:
Flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive thoughts or memories of a traumatic event?
Mood swings, anger issues, or negative thoughts or beliefs about yourself.
A persistent sense of anxiety, fear, shame, guilt or sadness?
Perhaps you’re considering trauma therapy because you’re tired of feeling on edge all the time, as if something bad is always about to happen. Or maybe you’re a survivor of war, domestic violence, or sexual assault and it’s left you feeling like you can’t trust people or that the world is no longer safe. Or you may have experienced Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) where trust and safety were repeatedly violated within significant relationships.
Avoidance Is A Big Part Of How Trauma, PTSD and C-PTSD Manifests
If you’re coping with trauma or a form of PTSD, it can feel like your thoughts, memories, and emotions are out of control. You’re hyper-vigilant, always waiting for the other shoe to drop, so you spend a lot of time avoiding people, places, and situations that may feel threatening. That, in turn, disrupts relationships and compromises your ability to achieve your goals and aspirations, driving you further into isolation.
You might use work, exercise, or even substance use as an escape only to have the negative self-talk and catastrophic thinking kick in once you’re alone with your thoughts. You may even believe that what happened was somehow your fault—but rest assured, you didn’t ask for this, and you deserve support.
Whatever you’re going through, our trauma therapists at Flatiron Counseling want to help free you from the ghosts of the past. Working together, you can learn to neutralize negative thinking, enhance your psychological flexibility, and break the cycle of avoidance, allowing you to function better and live the life you were meant to.
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Trauma Therapy Allows You To Create Real, Lasting Change
Because trauma affects people on both a physiological and neurological level, healing requires a targeted approach that goes beyond merely talking about the past.
For that reason, we tailor counseling sessions to your unique situation. Whether you’re struggling with the impact of childhood trauma, complex PTSD, or painful emotional wounds from the past, therapy can help you heal and create lasting change in your life.
What Does Trauma Therapy Involve?
When you first meet with your trauma therapist, we’ll invite you to share what brought you into therapy and how you’ve been coping on a day-to-day basis. We’ll review your personal history, your current struggles, and provide you with psychoeducation about the nature of trauma, PTSD and Complex PTSD to help you better understand how it’s impacting you and manifesting in various symptoms.
We’ll discuss how you perceive yourself and what you would like your life to look like in the very near future. We’ll also discuss what you need in order to feel safe and supported during your therapy sessions. We will of course also review logistical details, such as confidentiality, cancellation fees, and scheduling appointments. Then we will start exploring trauma-informed interventions.
Some Of The Tools We Utilize In Trauma Treatment
Our approach to counseling draws from three targeted trauma interventions:
We help our clients challenge and reframe negative self-concepts, perspectives and worldviews into healthier, more balanced perspectives.
We teach somatic skills such as breathwork, progressive muscle relaxation, vagal toning exercises, grounding techniques and other forms of mindfulness.
We help you develop the skills to notice moment-by-moment changes in your physiology so you can apply interventions that allow your body to send safety signals to your brain.
Our trauma interventions focus on restructuring thoughts around the trauma, identifying and resolving memories that sustain Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and learning how to minimize avoidance behaviors. These tried-and-true trauma interventions share the same goal: to eliminate trauma and PTSD symptoms and empower clients to live their best lives.
Trauma Does Not Have to Determine Your Life
Starting trauma-focused therapy is understandably hard. While the prospect of thinking and reflecting on the past in order to heal may be frightening, by the end of treatment, you will likely see a significant reduction in trauma and PTSD symptoms.
You don’t have to continue avoiding people and situations, being controlled by painful beliefs and memories, or missing out on life because you never feel safe. You can exorcise those old ghosts from your past. You can feel safe again. You can take control and start truly living.
Still Have Questions Or Concerns About Trauma Therapy?
Will I need to take medication to get better?
That's a great question and always worth exploring. In more severe cases, medication can sometimes be beneficial for getting clients to a place where they feel grounded and stable enough to facilitate the work of therapy.
The choice to integrate medication into trauma treatment is deeply personal, one that is yours and yours alone, and one we will always respect. That said, our trauma therapists can refer you to well respected psychiatrists who can collaborate with your counselor if you desire to supplement your trauma recovery with medication in addition to therapy.
Is trauma counseling going to be a financial burden?
Our trauma and PTSD therapists accept all Aetna insurance plans including EAP and Student Health plans. Our out-of-network providers offer reduced rates on a sliding scale based on financial hardship. We will do our best to work around your financial concerns.
I’m embarrassed to see a trauma therapist because my experience wasn’t that bad.
Whether you’re considering counseling to help you navigate grief and loss, unresolved childhood neglect, or a vicarious experience that has you stuck in the past, trauma and PTSD is a complex issue that affects everyone differently. There is no shame in caring for yourself. No matter how insignificant your experience seems, therapy is a powerful way to make sure the past doesn’t end up compromising relationships, work, or any other part of your life.
Let Us Help You Leave The Past Where It Belongs
If you’re tired of living in the past, looking over your shoulder, and waiting for the worst to happen, working with a trauma counselor can restore your sense of peace, safety, and trust in the world. To get started, please contact us at (212) 353-3553 for a free, 15-minute consultation.
Flatiron Counseling offers both in-person and virtual trauma treatment for adults of all ages in NYC and throughout the state of New York.
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