Healing Childhood Trauma
In-Person and Virtual Therapy in Shorewood, WI
You Don’t Have to Carry This Alone
Childhood trauma can leave lasting imprints on how you see yourself, relate to others, and navigate the world around you. Maybe you grew up in a home where you felt unsafe, unseen, or like you had to take care of others before yourself. Maybe your needs were dismissed, your emotions minimized, or you were taught—directly or indirectly—that love was conditional. Even if everything looked “fine” on the outside, emotional neglect or subtle forms of trauma can still have a deep impact.
Childhood trauma refers to any distressing experience in your early years that overwhelmed your ability to cope—emotionally, mentally, or physically. These experiences impact the present. These experiences shape your nervous system, the beliefs about yourself and the world, and your ability to trust and feel safe in relationships.
How Childhood Trauma Can Show Up Later in Life:
Anxiety, hypervigilance, or people-pleasing
Fear of rejection or abandonment
Chronic self-doubt or feeling “not good enough”
Emotional numbness or difficulty feeling joy
Over-functioning, perfectionism, or burnout
Relationship patterns that feel familiar but painful
How Therapy Can Help:
Healing from childhood trauma doesn’t mean erasing the past. It means gently turning toward it, honoring what you’ve been through, and learning how to meet yourself with the care you always deserved.
In therapy, we’ll work at a pace that feels safe for you. We’ll explore how early experiences shaped your sense of self and your relationships. We’ll connect the dots between past and present—and learn ways to cope and manage its impacts on your life.
I integrate trauma-informed approaches like Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Brainspotting to support both insight and deeper emotional processing. These tools help you access and heal the parts of you that are still in protection mode.
Trauma creates change you don’t choose. Healing is about creating change you do choose.” -Michelle Rosenthal
Therapy is a space where your story is honored. Together, we can begin healing from the inside out.