Trauma and PTSD therapists in Cookeville, Tennessee TN

I specialize in helping individuals recover from Complex Trauma, Developmental Trauma, and PTSD. This can include emotional abuse or neglect in childhood or emotional abuse as an adult.  

Trauma and PTSD, especially C-PTSD, includes any emotional experience that was upsetting and different than you had experienced up to that point in your life. C-PTSD often involves parental neglect, unavailability, or inconsistency. I am not one of the therapists who will tell you that you need to forgive and rebuild your relationsihp with anyone you choose not to have in your life. The idea that people should continue to endure mistreatment simply because someone is family is absurd. Of course, trauma and PTSD can include experiencing or witnessing any type of violence, abuse, accidents, or the threats of violence or abuse. Trauma has been my specialty since the beginning of my career and I have taken extensive training on the treatment of trauma. More importantly than if I am qualified to treat you for upsetting or traumatic past experiences is the fact that I will never minimize your experiences. Please do not avoid going to therapy because you think what you experienced was "not that bad." If it was upsetting to you when it happened and it still affects your life in any way I want to help you reduce or eliminate the impact of those experiences on your present day and future life.  

Each of us faces obstacles and difficulties in life differently, and at times we can all use help. Individuals frequently seek my services during times of transition, when decision making appears to have a greater impact on our future directions.  

Kids are resilient, but… They often need help processing and coping with the experiences they’ve had or changes they may be going through. Whatever the experience – parental divorce, the death of a loved one, or even abuse or neglect – children often don’t have the tools to cope and move forward (at least not in a healthy way). Maybe they didn’t seem bothered by these things at the time, but now (perhaps even months or years later), their behaviors suggest that something is wrong. During a life-changing experience, kids go into “survival mode.” And that can look different based on the child. During or immediately after a stressful event, a child’s brain may activate specific areas of the brain and de-activate others as a natural response to help them survive. Some children may have increased awareness and adrenaline, often becoming jumpy or easily startled. Others may struggle with the area of the brain that helps them regulate their emotions, causing them to have mood swings, emotional outbursts, or tearfulness. Many children begin to withdraw and isolate themselves. Children who are struggling to process or cope with trauma experience problems sleeping, such as nightmares and trouble falling or staying asleep. They experience intense feelings of anxiety that cause them to be on “overdrive” and always alert to potential danger. They struggle to process and communicate their feelings appropriately, resulting in meltdowns, tantrums, or isolating themselves. They are easily distracted and find their mind wanders, causing them to “space out” during tasks or conversations. They don’t know how to trust you (or anyone) because of what they experienced. A special therapy has been proven to help. Whether your child is experiencing a life-changing event right now… or it’s something they’ve experienced in the past, I’m here to help. Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is a proven treatment to help children and teens who have experienced a scary or stressful event in life. This therapy will identify how trauma has affected your child and will help your child process stressful memories and develop ways to cope with thoughts and feelings related to the event in a safe environment. Children who have experienced trauma are frequently still “haunted” by lingering trauma reminders (or trauma triggers)… A fight at school could bring back crippling memories of a fight they witnessed in the past. Grandparent’s Day activities at their daycare may cause them to experience those same intense feelings they had when they first lost their grandparent. Seeing a distant parent after a divorce could cause them to isolate and withdraw as they wanted to when they saw parents fighting before the split. Together, your child and I will identify and confront the trauma triggers that are still impacting your child. Your child will process the experience in a safe environment and develop skills to cope with the emotions associated with the event. Relaxation skills such as mindfulness, breathing exercises, and meditation will be taught and practiced with your child in sessions (and in language they understand). These will become your child’s defense against their big and scary thoughts and feelings as they continue to move through treatment. They’ll learn ways to manage their emotions and combat panic and anxiety related to the experience and how to identify their feelings. Your child will create a “feelings-scale” and begin practicing ways to calm themselves down (or bring themselves “back down the scale”) when their feelings become too much. They’ll begin communicating their feelings to you in healthy ways. They’ll learn why their former (and sometimes aggressive) ways of communication are unhealthy and often result in consequences, and they’ll replace those old ways with new skills such as using “I-feel statements.” As your child develops these skills, they will prepare to process the traumatic event head-on by completing a trauma narrative with my support. Through the trauma-narrative process, your child will confront memories of the situation and address unhelpful thoughts and core beliefs they have as a result of the event. They may think the divorce was their fault. Or that they are a “bad kid” due to abuse they experienced. We will work together to process these unhelpful thoughts and core beliefs and change them to positive, true, and helpful thoughts. The trauma-narrative process is completely tailored to each child. Your child may choose to draw, paint, or use art to express their narrative. They may choose to write and sing a song describing their experience, or they may simply choose to write their story in narrative form. Your child is free to choose the best way that works for them. After this process, your child will have the opportunity to “destroy” or keep the narrative to signify their incredible and brave progress in moving forward. Throughout treatment, we will also work together to plan for any additional needs for your child outside of therapy (ex. behavior planning, safety planning, school safety planning, or supervision planning). Don’t let an event change the rest of your child’s life. I am here to provide help within a judgement-free, therapeutic environment. Are you ready to help your child change their patterns of behavior, emotional distress, and negative thoughts resulting from the binding impacts of a traumatic event? If so, give me a call today!  

I work with clients who struggle with anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship or family issues as well as a host of other related issues and use EMDR to treat these problems. During our sessions, we will collaborate to create a plan for addressing them that helps you get your life back. I practice from a Holistic perspective and commonly employ EMDR and other effective modalities with helping clients achieve balance and purpose in their lives and creative solutions to their problems. This includes exploring past issues and trauma that may be a factor presently. We will work on your past directly so you can gain perspective and make needed changes allowing you to move beyond it once and for all. Our goal is to make lasting and desired changes to promote healthy relationships and positive interactions. I also specialize in Religious Trauma for those who have suffered trauma within Religion or Church in a variety of contexts.