Contact

Maria Brockman, LMFT
858-401-3760

Location

4901 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, Ca 92117
verified by Psychology Today

Trauma

Trauma can be a tricky topic. Many clients don’t realize that the root of their feelings and distress today link directly back to a specific trauma in their life. I have a lot of clients tell me they did not consider their struggles a “trauma” because it did not fit in their definition of trauma. I am here to help with all sorts of trauma, including the things that have happened in your life. I’d like to help you with your nightmares, lack of ability to sleep, or help identify what things trigger the feelings that came up when the incident or situation first happened. Some of my clients know an exact event that that they are running from, others know their pain or symptoms, but don’t know the exact cause of those things in their current life. Please read how I can help to see the path that can lead to less distress for you.

What is Trauma?

Trauma is ANY event that has a significant affect on a person. It can affect your body, emotions, thinking, memory, sleep, relationships, and your ability to be present. Often people don’t realize they have been through trauma. See the list below for symptoms that often accompany trauma.

Symptoms of Trauma

  • Feeling in a fog/loss of blocks of time
  • Feeling numb or frozen
  • Sense of helplessness
  • Feeling detached from self
  • Feeling like you are not present
  • Feel like world/people are unfamiliar, strange or foreign
  • Frequently feel irritable, anxious, angry, or depressed
  • Intense emotional reactions -“triggers”
  • Emotions affecting the body, resulting in chronic illness, chronic pain, or obesity
  • Startle easily
  • Feel hyper-alert to things around you
  • Nightmares
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Memory problems
  • Flashbacks and intrusive thoughts
  • Feeling like you are loosing control *Unable to cope
  • Tend to mistrust others
  • Feel isolated
  • Self-destructive thoughts
  • Feelings of shame
  • Misuse substance – alcohol, Marijuana, cigarettes, prescription drugs, food- to numb feelings

Trauma Check List

  • Verbal/Emotional abuse
  • Physical Abuse
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Serious Injury
  • Serious Accident
  • Serious Illness
  • Death of loved one
  • Violent Assault
  • Robbery
  • Mugging
  • Kidnapping
  • Terrorist Attack
  • Natural Disaster
  • Rape
  • War
Trauma can be viewed like your hand. The palm is the trauma and off of that experience the fingers grow into different life paths that are affected by the trauma. EMDR targets the palm, or trauma, and clears the neural pathways that stem off of it. Once cleared energy, feelings, and physical sensations can freely flow and develop into healthier paths.

How I can help

We tend to live in a society that emphasizes “moving on”, “being productive” and we are rewarded for “being resilient”. These values can keep you from expressing or talking about things like grief or bad events that have happened to you. You may feel a need to sweep your feelings under the rug or pretend you are ok, even if you are not. With interventions and EMDR I can help you take your distress levels down, so that things that became triggers for you from your past are no longer distressing and therefore no longer causing disturbances in your current life. I am a safe and consistent person to share those feelings and stories with. I can guide you towards a path of feeling freer, happier, like you have had a weight taken off your shoulders. I can free your mind, which works so hard to keep these issues away, allowing you to sleep better, and improving your quality of life.

Please call me to share your story and begin a path of healing.