Trauma and PTSD therapists in Lakeland, Tennessee TN

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!  

Trauma did not wait for consent; Therapy must. While many different therapeutic modalities exist for the treatment of trauma and PTSD, what remains essential is the thoughtful and careful negotiation of pacing between therapist and client such that the therapeutic process feels as manageable and tolerable as possible. Given that trauma so often results from harmful relational dynamics that force agendas or remove personal agency, trauma therapy must offer a healing space that does not seek to rush, pressure, or impinge. Rather, and in my professional opinion, it's imperative that trauma therapy respect the client's experience of what feels manageable at any given moment in therapeutic time and space, working to avoid unnecessary setback and potential retraumatization. I feel this is best achieved through the development of a reliable therapeutic rapport and relationship that functions to carefully and mindfully co-monitor and co-negotiate the everchanging and expanding dynamics between therapist and client. Put another way, your therapy should not be forced into someone else's timeframe or methodology; it should be allowed to develop in step with your specific history, unique needs, and comfort level. Please refer to my Trauma Blog on my website (pouliotpsychologicalservices.com) for more information on my approach to the treatment of trauma.  

The impact of a single, traumatic event or experiencing an environment that provides a chronic sense of danger can have a debilitating effect on how we view the world and how we function in it. Through therapy, we'll identify how your experiences of trauma are manifested in your body and thoughts, and work on improving upon your awareness of triggers and improving coping behaviors.  

Trauma is the experience not just of what happened to us, but by how our bodies, neurology, and hearts respond to what happened to us. Traumas of 'small t' and traumas of 'big T' both create adaptions to our true selves that can lead in our being 'stuck' in ways that don't serve us, that may create more trauma, or disconnection from our true selves and to our relationships with others. We have multiple ways of healing trauma, including complex traumas, including Flash Therapy, EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), clinical hypnosis, somatic work, art therapy and more. Coming back to your true self, perhaps for the first time, is not a journey to be missed.  

As a therapist, I have worked with an array of clients who have experienced trauma in many different ways. Trauma can be unique to each individual and specializing treatment is important. Trauma can come from many different experiences, which include family, school, divorce, military, first responder, and various life event experiences. As a certified trauma provider, I have worked extensively with military, veterans, first responders and maternal health trauma. I am trained in EMDR and be BAUD which increase the opportunity for healing post trauma.