Healing Childhood Trauma

You are not broken. You’re carrying wounds that were never your fault to begin with.

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. This includes:

  • Emotional neglect or lack of emotional attunement

  • Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse

  • Growing up in a home with addiction, mental illness, or unpredictable caregiving

  • Being parentified (taking on adult responsibilities too early)

  • Chronic criticism, shame, or unrealistic expectations

  • Witnessing conflict, violence, or abandonment

These experiences don’t just stay in the past. They shape your nervous system, your beliefs about yourself, and your ability to trust and feel safe in relationships.

What is Childhood Trauma?

How Childhood Trauma Shows Up Later in Life:

  • Anxiety, hypervigilance, or people-pleasing

  • Trouble setting boundaries or saying no

  • 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

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. We’ll explore how early experiences shaped your sense of self and your relationships. We’ll connect the dots between past and present—and then go a step further by helping you actually feel the emotions that were once too overwhelming.

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 younger parts of you that may still be holding onto fear, shame, or unmet needs.

How Therapy Can Help:

You Don’t Have to Carry This Alone

Therapy is a space where your story is honored—where you don’t have to explain away your pain or shrink to make others comfortable. Together, we can begin healing from the inside out.