What to Expect from Trauma Therapy

Written By Moriah Conant M.A.

It’s estimated that over 224 million adults have experienced at least one trauma. It’s prevalent, albeit horrifying.  After trauma, your world can feel unsafe, and then anxiety makes your body feel unsafe too.

The good news? It’s treatable, and we specialize in helping you cope. Trauma therapy can help you make sense of your trauma history and feel more grounded in your life. When trauma happens, you need trauma-informed and competent therapy to support your recovery. 

This month, we will be sharing blogs about trauma therapy and what that process is like. Today we are covering what to expect from trauma therapy.

Trauma Therapy 

Last week we talked about the basics of trauma therapy. Trauma therapy provides a space to talk about trauma, identify how it has impacted you, and process all of it. This type of therapy looks at more than what is currently going on in your life- this process will look more deeply into your experiences, beliefs about yourself, and how these things impact you.

Different Modalities 

There are many different approaches to trauma therapy, and you get to decide what approach is best for you and the trauma you are working through. If you are uncertain which approach would be a good fit, talk to the therapist you are working with or utilize free consultations to learn more about the different approaches to trauma therapy. Below are a few different modalities used to treat trauma and articles with information about each approach. 

Before working with a therapist, ask them how they treat trauma. Your therapist should be able to talk about their approach to trauma therapy and how that helps clients see relief from symptoms and triggers.

There is no Timeframe for Healing

Many people ask for a time frame when they begin trauma therapy. How many sessions will it take to see some relief? When will the triggers feel less intense? What will be the length of treatment?

Trauma therapists wish we could give you a clear-cut answer about a time frame- we recognize that you are investing time and money into your healing, and we do not take those investments lightly. However, there are a lot of factors that go into the length of treatment. You might be coming in to talk about a single incident trauma like a car accident, or you might be coming in to talk about complex trauma like relational abuse. Maybe you have weekly sessions with a therapist, or maybe you are doing a more intensive treatment like KAP or EMDR intensives. All these factors impact the length of treatment, and there is no blanket statement answer for the length of treatment. If you have questions about the length of treatment, it’s best to talk to the therapist you’re working with.

Timing of Sessions

At Woven, our clients have weekly sessions, especially at the beginning of their time in therapy. We insist on this because we want to ensure that you have the support you need as you process your trauma. Processing trauma can be dysregulating and distressing, and it’s important that you have support during this process. If you need additional support, you may decide to see a therapist multiple times a week for talk therapy or an intensive modality like KAP. We encourage you to talk to your therapist if you need additional support- they want to ensure you get the support you need and can help you explore different avenues for this.

Things Might Get Worse Before They Get Better

One of the reasons we insist on weekly sessions, especially at the beginning of treatment, is that your symptoms and triggers might worsen before they get better. Processing trauma can be distressing. You are beginning to examine your traumatic experiences, identify your beliefs about yourself, how you’ve survived, and how your trauma has impacted your relationships.

Examining and potentially changing relationships, coping skills, and beliefs about yourself can be dysregulating. What is important to know is that you get to choose the pace of your trauma therapy- you are working collaboratively with your therapist. You can tell them if you aren’t ready to talk about something, or if you want to focus on a different topic during your session. Your therapist is there to support you! 

Trauma therapy is hard work, there’s no doubt about that, but it is meaningful and valuable work. 

Some benefits of trauma therapy:

  • Learning new coping skills

  • Reduction of symptoms and triggers

  • Improved relationships

  • Making meaning of your experiences

We hope to provide you with information about trauma therapy so that you can make an informed decision about if trauma therapy is a good fit for you at this time.

Do you have more questions? Think trauma therapy might be a good fit for you? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with our therapist matchmaker.

Interested in learning more about our unique approach to trauma therapy?

These blogs talk more about the basics of EMDR:

You can read more about Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy here:

Read more by our trauma therapists

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Moriah Conant M.A.
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