Trauma Recovery Practitioner

Empowering ambitious women who have been impacted by the patriarchy to take back their power, re-write their narrative, and live the life they want

Specializations:

•  Ambitious women impacted by the patriarchy

• Artists and creatives navigating religious trauma

• Trauma-informed career support

If I do not have availability on my calendar, you can join my wait list here.

Why I chose to become a Certified Trauma Recovery Coach rather than a therapist

1. Training. Most therapists receive minimal training on trauma and trauma recovery in grad school. While this is changing in the academic world, therapists continue to look for outside certifications for training in trauma recovery. They spend thousands of dollars on a master’s degree that doesn’t prepare them for the work I feel is most important in a therapy context. Considering I already have one master’s degree (where I took accredited classes in counseling), I decided to focus my time and finances on pursuing training that I believe is the foundation of why most people end up in a therapy room to begin with. I am Certified in EMDR Trauma Recovery Skills. Certification for Somatic Therapy Skills in progress.

2. Accountability. While anyone can technically call themselves a coach, I received high-quality, master’s-level training. I also attend regular supervision with CTRR and pursue continuing education credits. I am constantly receiving training and staying up-to-date on current research in trauma and trauma-recovery.

3. Story. Trauma recovery coaches are trained on tactful disclosure. This is the practice of sharing small pieces of your own story with your clients in order to provide a space where the client is empowered by knowing they are not alone. While the time belongs to the client and is about the client’s recovery, tactful disclosure is a powerful resource for trauma recovery that therapists are often discouraged from doing—further revealing how most therapy training is not trauma informed.

4. Empowerment. Trauma recovery coaches work with clients from a level place. While I might have the training in trauma recovery, the client is the expert on their own life and story. I point my clients toward the resources they already have. I reflect back to them things they might not see. I’m a mirror and a witness. I am also a peer. Survivors of trauma—specifically developmental trauma from abuse, or any form of abuse—have had their power diminished and their voice supressed. The last thing they need is another person in their life claiming to know more than they do. Trauma survivors need to be empowered, need to learn to trust their intuition, and need to learn how to use their voice. A trauma recovery coach empowers their client during each step of the recovery process.

5. Emotions. While this approach is relatively old school, many therapist have been trained to keep their emotions out of the therapy room. However, the most healing moments I ever experienced in therapy were the moments when my therapist removed their stoic mask and allowed me to see they were angry at something that had happened to me or expressed they were proud of me for a choice I made. Trauma survivors often need to see healthy expressions of emotions modeled for them, as they often have had to keep their emotions bottled up in order to survive. Or they are so disregulated by trauma they don’t know what healthy emotions look or feel like. The emotions of the coach (while never more central than the client’s) allow the survivor to feel free to express their own emotions. It lets the client know their emotions—whatever they may be—are okay. My training encouraged coaches to be a full human within their sessions. This includes tactful emotional expression.