Trauma Therapy for Adults in Grand Rapids

Trauma can shape how you think, feel, relate, and experience your body—often long after the original experiences have passed. While trauma therapy can certainly be used for a single-event trauma—such as a car accident, an assault, or a traumatic injury—many people who are looking to start trauma therapy are looking to process years of accumulated stress, relational wounds, or experiences that overwhelmed their nervous system.

As a licensed trauma therapist in Michigan, I offer trauma therapy for adults in Grand Rapids and across the state of Michigan via telehealth. My work focuses on helping clients gently process trauma at the nervous-system level, at a pace that feels safe and attuned, not just through insight or talking alone.

What Is Trauma Therapy?

Trauma therapy is a form of mental health treatment that helps the brain and body process experiences that were too scary, painful, or overwhelming to integrate at the time they occurred.

Trauma is not defined by what happened—it’s defined by how your nervous system was impacted during the event, and afterward.

Trauma therapy focuses on:

• Restoring a sense of safety in the body and mind

• Reducing chronic activation (hypervigilance) or shutdown (dissociation, numbness)

• Helping experiences become part of the past, rather than feeling as though you are continually reliving them

• Increasing emotional flexibility, capacity for connection, and ability to self-regulate when hard emotions arise

Types of Trauma I Work With

Trauma can take many forms. You do not need to have a single, identifiable traumatic event for trauma therapy to be helpful.

Complex Trauma/Chronic Trauma (C-PTSD)

Complex/chronic trauma often develops from repeated or long-term experiences such as:

• Childhood emotional neglect

• Childhood emotional, physical, or sexual abuse

• Chronic instability from caregivers, such as a caregiver being volatile, emotionally absent, or struggling with mental health or substance use

• Exposure to domestic violence, community violence, war, or poverty

• Ongoing exposure to stress without adequate support

Clients with complex trauma may struggle with emotional regulation, self-worth, toxic shame, appropriate boundaries, or extreme emotional and physical exhaustion. They may have received diagnoses of anxiety, depression, bipolar, borderline personality disorder, PTSD, or substance use disorders later in life. They may also have one or several chronic physical health conditions linked to chronic stress and inflammation, such as autoimmune disorders or fibromyalgia.

Developmental & Attachment Trauma

Early experiences from childhood and adolescence shape the nervous system. They often fall under the category of complex trauma or C-PTSD. When safety, attunement, or consistency were missing in childhood, trauma can show up later as:

• Fear of abandonment or hyper-independence

• Difficulty trusting others, or trusting others too quickly without evidence that they are trustworthy

• Intense emotional reactions in relationships, or being emotionally numb and “distant”

• Feeling “too much” or “not enough” or both at the same time

• Having a hard time identifying your likes, dislikes, needs, desires, goals, or motivations in life

• Having a sense that you don’t know who you are

• Struggling with dissociation or hypervigilance, or both

Trauma and Chronic Stress

Not all trauma is dramatic or obvious, and it can happen in adulthood even when your childhood was not traumatic. Long-term stress from work or school, occupational burnout, long-term caregiving roles, or environments that require constant self-suppression can also overwhelm the nervous system over time.

How Trauma Affects the Nervous System

Trauma lives in the body and brain, not just in the explicit memories that we can recall and talk about.

When trauma occurs:

• The brain prioritizes survival over reflection, self-actualization, or insight.

• The nervous system may get stuck in a fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown mode, especially if the body and mind were not able to “complete” the stress cycle following the trauma or if the trauma was long-lasting (chronic) and turned into CPTSD

• Often, the body and mind continue to respond as if danger is present, even when it is not

This is why many people understand their trauma intellectually, yet still feel reactive, anxious, numb, or exhausted. This is also why talk therapy isn’t always the most effective answer for treating trauma.

Why Talk Therapy Alone Isn’t Always Enough

Traditional talk therapy can be helpful—but for trauma, insight alone often doesn’t create lasting change. This is often because trauma is stored in deeper parts of the brain that are non-verbal and reflexive, that don’t respond to the “thinking brain” and it’s attempts at change through cognitive restructuring, mentalization, cognitive challenging, or simple behavioral changes. Effective and nervous-system informed trauma therapy works with:

• Physical sensation (somatic awareness)

• Emotions

• Nervous system activation (arousal levels)

• Implicit memory as well as explicit memory

My approach integrates experiential, somatic, and brain-based methods that allow trauma to process without you having to re-tell your whole story

Trauma Therapy Approaches I Use

I tailor treatment based on your nervous system, history, and goals.

Brainspotting Therapy

Brainspotting helps access and process trauma stored in the subcortical brain using eye position and focused attunement. It is especially helpful for complex trauma, emotional overwhelm, and experiences that feel difficult to put into words.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)

PRT addresses chronic pain and physical symptoms that are maintained by neural pathways, rather than caused by a current injury or illness. It is often effective for stress-related pain and trauma-linked somatic symptoms.

Eye Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)

EMDR is an evidence-based type of trauma therapy that utilizes bilateral stimulation (visual, auditory, or through physical stimulation like tapping or hand buzzers) that helps your system process through traumatic memories while remaining grounded in the present moment.

Nervous System–Informed Therapy

All of my trauma therapy work is grounded in an understanding and respect for how the autonomic nervous system responds to threat, safety, and connection. We move at a pace that feels safe, so that we reduce the risk of retraumatizing your system or overwhelming you with difficult emotional or physical sensations.

What Trauma Therapy Can Help With

Trauma therapy may be able to help you:

• Feel more regulated, grounded, and present in your body

• Reduce anxiety, panic symptoms, or emotional flooding

• Decrease dissociation or numbness so that you feel safer in your own body and surroundings

• Improve relationships and help you draw healthy boundaries with the people in your life

• Experience relief from trauma-related physical symptoms, such as chronic pain, tension, inflammation, fatigue, and more

• Feel more like yourself again—or, discover who you want to be as part of post-traumatic growth and recovery

What to Expect in Trauma Therapy

Trauma therapy is not about “pushing through” or forcing yourself to relive traumatic experiences before you’re ready.

Our work together typically includes:

1. Building safety and stability through coping skills and resourcing. This takes as long as it needs to take—your nervous system is the decider here, not me.

2. Learning how your nervous system responds to stress—we will slowly introduce opportunities for you to practice coping and resourcing skills, and will titrate based on how your system responds.

3. Gently processing trauma at a pace your system can tolerate. No pushing through because you think you have to, no forcing it because you want to be “good at therapy.”

4. Integrating changes into daily life and relationships—this might look like changes to how you act, think, or treat yourself & others on a day to day basis.

You remain in control of the pace and depth of the work, always.

Trauma Therapy in Grand Rapids, Michigan

I provide trauma therapy to adults in Grand Rapids and offer online therapy to clients located anywhere in Michigan, depending on licensure and fit.

If you’re unsure whether trauma therapy is right for you, an initial consultation can help clarify next steps. I’ll be able to answer any questions you have and we can talk more about the type of trauma therapy you’d like to pursue.

About Me as a Trauma Therapist

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor with specialized training in trauma-focused and experiential therapies, including Brainspotting, EMDR, and Pain Reprocessing Therapy. My approach is collaborative, non-pathologizing, and grounded in respect for each client’s nervous system and lived experience.

Frequently Asked Questions About Trauma Therapy

Do I need to remember everything that happened?
No. The types of trauma therapy I provide do not require detailed recall of memories. I will never ask you to describe painful memories in detail, nor will I make you recount your entire history if you don’t want to.

How long does trauma therapy take?
This varies widely and depends on your goals, history, and nervous system capacity. Often, single-incident trauma takes less time to process than chronic, long-term, or complex traumas. Especially if your trauma is rooted in developmental or attachment trauma, the work may take time as your system learns to find safety in the work we’re doing together.

Is trauma therapy intense?
Sometimes! And that’s okay. I will be with you every step of the way. Trauma therapy often brings up painful past memories—it can be emotionally meaningful and sometimes intense, but I do my best to help pace things so as to avoid systemic overwhelm.

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re looking for trauma therapy in Grand Rapids or online in Michigan, you’re welcome to reach out to see if we’re a good fit.