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trauma
therapy
TRAUMA THERAPY ZURICH
The body has a story to tell that is as important as the mind's. But the body needs someone to be listening to that story. | Aline LaPierre
Trauma healing is relationship healing on all levels: in the relationship with yourself and your body, with your neighbors, with your fellow human beings, with your job and with life as a whole.
In the process of trauma healing, your early emotional wounds can gradually heal through the experience of genuine and safe contact. You learn to regulate yourself and to perceive and communicate your needs. As a result, you will inhabit your body with increasing joy.
Healing trauma on all levels
Trauma is not an event, but what happens in our bodies in response to shocking and overwhelming experiences. Trauma can occur when...
… the choice is taken away from us.
… the stressors outweigh our available resources.
… too much has happened for too long.
… there is too little for too long.
An accident can therefore trigger trauma (shock trauma) just as much as an anxious mother (attachment trauma) or parents who impose their own dreams and desires on their children (developmental trauma). Overwhelming feelings and memories are split off and no longer conscious.
I primarily work with a focus on attachment and developmental trauma. Almost every shock trauma is originally rooted in a developmental trauma, so by integrating our early emotional wounds, shock trauma work can become unnecessary.
What is trauma?
Early trauma, so-called attachment and developmental trauma, leaves deep scars in our bodies and brains and makes life difficult from the very beginning. This doesn't mean one-off events that are externally identifiable as serious (=shock trauma), but primarily the breakdown of our bond with our primary caregiver, usually our mother . This leads, among other things, to a reduced ability for self-regulation. As a result, any emotion, whether joy or anger, can quickly derail us or not even surface. Allowing genuine contact is both our greatest longing and, in our perception, our greatest danger.
Bond breaks can be...
... in infancy:
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physical or emotional separation from the mother
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depressive, anxious, narcissistic or (passive) aggressive first caregiver
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lack of sensitivity of the first caregiver
...in childhood:
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Ignorance or disapproval of the child's need for autonomy
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Ignorance or disapproval of childhood sexuality
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Manipulation of the child
Any instance of being left alone, whether physically or emotionally, is life-threatening for the infant. If we repeatedly experience such bonding breakdowns, it leads to us developing chronically high levels of stress, withdrawing from our bodies , and experiencing contact as dangerous.
However, our body often manages to achieve balance over a long period of time, so that we can get through life relatively healthy despite the high level of activation in our body.
Symptoms appear when our body enters healing mode and finally wants to release years of tension. Instead of judging our difficulties and problems, we can see them as a gateway to healing our inner, wounded child.
Trauma therapy – body- and attachment-oriented
Symptoms of trauma can include:
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severe nervousness, anxiety , social phobia, insecurity, dissatisfaction, constant sadness, etc.
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constant fatigue, sleep disorders
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Burnout, depression
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Fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, chronic tension and other medically unexplained symptoms
On an emotional level we are often accompanied by:
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the difficulty of entering into and maintaining deep relationships
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a low self-esteem & self-hatred
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Shame and guilt
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Anger and rage
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the difficulty of setting boundaries
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an emotional numbness
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the feeling of being somehow different and wrong
Symptoms of trauma
The symptoms mentioned above are often caused by a chronically dysregulated and activated nervous system. This, in turn, usually stems from unconscious memories and suppressed feelings from our earliest childhood, to which we have no conscious access. In trauma work, we begin the healing process by finding a language for these unconscious memories, making them conscious, and feeling the associated emotions in a safe relational context without becoming overwhelmed. Our body helps us with this, because everything is stored within it. It shows us the way.
From an energetic perspective, trauma manifests itself in the body as stagnant energy, because every suppressed need or feeling leaves us with tension. Trauma-sensitive touch can help get the energy flowing again and bring more vitality to the body-mind-psyche system. As the energy blockage is gradually released, the emotions originally contained within it also surface. Thus, touch in trauma therapy can both support and initiate the healing process.
Paths to trauma healing
The healing process in trauma therapy is primarily about ...
... strengthening your self-regulation and body awareness.
... learning the ability to be in real contact with yourself and other people , to maintain this contact and, over time, even to enjoy it.
... the gentle uncovering and integration of your subconscious patterns, early emotional injuries and limiting beliefs .
In the process of trauma therapy ...
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you may feel truly seen for the first time
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you will learn the real causes of your complaints and problems
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you will learn and appreciate your survival strategies
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you learn to regulate yourself better and better in difficult situations
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you begin to feel more and more at home in your body
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you learn to set boundaries
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you will become more and more self-confident and fearless
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you develop more and more compassion for yourself and self-acceptance
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your physical symptoms disappear or you develop a curious, benevolent attitude towards them
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you feel more secure in the presence of other people and can allow more and more depth in contact
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you build more and more trust in yourself and in life , you experience more meaning in life
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begins a lifelong journey of conscious, curious exploration
How trauma therapy can help you
On the one hand, I work with SEI® (Somatic Emotional Integration) developed by Dami Charf, a bonding-oriented approach to body psychotherapy. I integrate touch and bodywork using NeuroAffective Touch®. In this context, I also sometimes incorporate aspects of energy work .
Both approaches focus on early attachment and developmental trauma and on our autonomic nervous system according to the polyvagal theory .
My approach
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In an optional initial telephone conversation (approx. 15 minutes, free of charge), I will address your concerns and questions.
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We'll then schedule an initial appointment , at the end of which I'll share my impressions of a possible development path. (If you don't need a phone conversation, you can also register for an appointment directly.)
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If you would like to continue the trauma therapy, we will meet approximately every two weeks until you can gradually make progress on your own and need my support less and less. I recommend starting with 6 sessions. After that we can assess how things are going, and where you feel you are in your healing journey.
