The Work

Our personal inner experience is at the core of how we experience relationships and the world around us. If our inner world is experiencing conflict we experience friction in our “relationships” (relating) and variance in our “performance” (doing). Gaining insight into what and why we are experiencing dissonance cultivates a connection to the self that improves the way we relate and show up for life’s demands.

Trauma

Complex interpersonal trauma is the result of repeated exposure to emotional abuse and/or neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, witnessing of abuse, trafficking, war, or racism.
Maltreatment and traumatic experiences negatively impact our biological, cognitive, emotional, social, ethical, and behavioral processes. The impact on our biopsychological functioning disrupts our capacity to develop secure attachment and an adaptive self-concept.

Impacts of Trauma

  • Poor boundaries

    Distrust and suspiciousness

    Social Isolation

    Interpersonal problems

    Difficulty showing empathy

    Difficulty understanding other’s perspective

  • Problems identifying and describing emotions.

    Problems with emotional self-regulation

    Problems naming and expressing feelings

    Problems communicating needs

  • Depersonalization and derealization

    Impaired memory

    Compartmentalizing painful memories and emotions

    Detachment from awareness of emotions and self

    Repeated problematic patterns of behavior without conscious choice

  • Difficulty focusing

    Difficulty with processing information

    Difficulty planning

    Difficulty with self-monitoring and self-control

    Challenges with working memory

    Problems with time management and organizational skills

    Learning challenges

    Difficulty with curiosity and novelty

  • Poor impulse controls

    Self-destructive behavior

    Aggressiveness and oppositional behaviors

    Difficulty sleeping

    Eating disorders

    Substance abuse

    Hyperindependence or Codependence

  • Poor sense of separateness

    Difficulty with body image

    Low self-esteem

    Shame and guilt

  • Inability to feel

    Somatization

    Increased medical issues

    Autoimmune disorders

    Pelvic pain

    Skin issues

    Asthma

    Inhibited sensorimotor development

Attachment

Our early child-caregiver relationships are the foundation in which we develop internal working models of self, others, and self in relation to others. Insecure attachment patterns develop within us when our primary caregivers are distressed, distant or unreliable. The aim of this work is to support our parts move from insecure to secure internal working models.

Grief

Understanding our early attachments reveals what we may not have recieved or wished we had received, bringing about feelings of grief and loss. Furthermore, as we explore the concept of self we discover grief is deeply connected to our shamed parts. Exploring our grief and shame can helps us to grow our capacity to experience joy, love, and acceptance.

Self-Emergence

When our early attachment relationships are comprimised our developmental competiencies struggle, distress tolerance deacrease, curiosity for novelity diminishes, and we lose our sense of agency. Distressed early attachments keep us in a constant state of survival that keep us from growing. The development of secure internal working models allows for self-expoloration and a sense of intraconnectedness.

Embodiment

Repeated exposure to trauma decreases our distress tolerance, dysregulation, and/or dissociation from our felt emotional state. Our imparired capacity to self-regulate and self-soothe leaves us vulnerable to repeating traumatic patterns. Developing a felt sense of security can helps us decision make from resourced connection between mind and body.