Trauma Therapy in Montclair
Treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Do you constantly feel on edge, always vigilant and ready to flee? Your nervous system is wired, which is exhausting.
Or do you feel shut down and numb? Do you avoid certain things for fear of bad memories, or have responses that you feel are irrational but can’t help?
Perhaps you have insomnia, or you are easily overwhelmed by your emotions.
Another typical response is acute people pleasing (“fawning”), when you center other people over your own needs.
This article in the New York Times talks about the fawn response, as it is a common response: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/well/fawning-book.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SFA.ujGT.rcCaLFQxExKE&smid=url-share
Another article addresses fawning in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/01/19/fawning-ingrid-clayton-book-review-are-you-mad-at-me-meg-josephson
Many people have suffered trauma, whether something dramatic like a natural disaster, or something much more commonplace, such as growing up in a home that felt unsafe and you felt invisible. Whether trauma comes from a single, terrifying event, or from repeated events, it can wreak havoc on the nervous system, emotions, and relationships, including with yourself. You might feel that something is wrong with you, but these are your body’s natural responses to survive a serious threat.
It’s important to seek help and not suffer in silence. With support you can learn to regulate your nervous system and find safety. Ironically, being calmer keeps you safer than being hypervigilant.
Treating trauma does not require purposely revisiting the event. That’s not something that many people would want to sign up for, although some people repeatedly have unwanted flashbacks. Trauma is addressed incrementally, and you gradually feel safer in your body and your life. You don’t even need to discuss the trauma. You get to set the pace, and the therapy can be effective without you having to tell the story if you don’t want to.
It is usually not the magnitude of the event that determines whether someone has trauma or its severity, but how much support they receive during or afterwards. The sooner you learn to find safety in the present, the more engaged you will feel with the world.
Trauma often doesn’t improve well with talk therapy alone since the nervous system is so strongly involved. I am certified as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, which qualifies me to help you bring your nervous system back into a healthy range of functioning. Somatic movement therapy is another tool I have to help ground you in your body and give you resources to rebalance your nervous system. It allows some difficult parts of you to express themselves and find release and relief. Trauma causes people not to feel safe in their bodies, so it makes sense to incorporate body awareness in therapy to recreate safety there.
Support and safety are necessary to heal trauma. Don’t deny yourself the chance to have this.
