Are you scared of reliving the pain of your trauma?

As a kid growing up in West Texas, I remember getting burned to a crisp in the sun of the South Plains. If I try hard enough, my shoulders can still remember the heat radiating away from my body as I lay in bed smothered in aloe vera ointments. 

When I got those burns, I took extraordinary care to ensure nothing and no one touched the burn. It hurt so bad. 

Pain is like that. When you hurt, you hurt. When you hurt, you naturally avoid touching the thing that hurts. 

This response to pain presents an unusual challenge for those who have experienced traumatic events. The pain can be searingly bad and to address it seems unbearable. 

So, therapy can be terrifying for those who fear they will have to relive a traumatic event. This fear often stems from a common misconception that therapy requires people to vividly re-experience their trauma, which can feel overwhelming and painful. 

This fear can also keep people from seeking help, even though they may know that unresolved trauma is affecting their mental health, relationships, and daily life.

However, trauma therapy is not about reliving traumatic events. As a therapist, I am sensitive to those fears. I don’t force clients to revisit trauma in a way that feels unsafe or too intense. 

Instead, I help clients gradually process their experiences at a pace that feels manageable. We do that, in part, by talking about how an event affected you – not about the event itself. 

Specifically, I use the most researched and effective trauma treatment currently available – Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). This is designed to help you process trauma without reliving it in a harmful way. 

The goal is not to re-traumatize but to integrate these painful memories in a way that reduces their emotional intensity and helps individuals regain a sense of safety and empowerment.

While the thought of revisiting a traumatic event can feel overwhelming, CPT offers a safe and supportive environment to heal. You can process trauma in a way that ultimately leads to relief, not further pain. 

It’s about finding a path toward recovery without being consumed by the past.