CPTSD Therapy in Uptown Dallas
For those taught to stay small, silent, or serving — even when it broke you
Therapy for CPTSD from Childhood Trauma and Neglect in Uptown Dallas
You learned how to walk on eggshells before you learned how to walk. Coming home from school gave you time to plan for any scenario you could face when you got there, but the violence, chaos, or absolute silence when you arrived never hurt any less each time, you just got more numb to it. Instead of being able to depend on your caregivers, you jumped in to mediate their arguments, lightened the mood when they got overwhelmed, and learned to stay quiet about your needs to not cause MORE drama. You had to protect yourself from constant emotional, verbal, or physical threat, all while trying to navigate all the stages of being a kid.
Shrinking kept you safe and silence was your strength. But what if you were never meant to heal alone?
CPTSD from Childhood Trauma often Looks Like:
-Questioning whether your thoughts and feelings are real
-Waking up feeling guilty when you haven’t even had a chance to make a mistake yet
-Consistent frustration that you either can’t remember your past or think about it without feeling overwhelmed by flashbacks or nightmares
-Confusion about what “relaxation” feels like and why other people can access it when you can’t
-Desiring connection more than anything but pushing people away when they come close
-Anger being your most consistent and primary reaction and emotion
-Constant exhaustion despite lots of sleep
-Fear of the one person you’re stuck with: you
Complex Trauma Therapy Connects your Innate Capacity to Survive with your Innate Capacity to Heal.
The fact that you struggle with symptoms of complex trauma means that your mind and emotions are desperate to integrate your past with your present. Working together in Uptown Dallas or anywhere in Texas, we can learn how your body wants to heal and practice techniques to ground yourself in the present (Somatic Trauma Therapy). As safety builds, you can explore the parts of your personality that adapted to the trauma, learn how they protected you, and foster the kind of self-compassion that has the capacity to heal shame (Internal Family Systems Therapy). The thought patterns, nightmares, and flashbacks that keep your brain in constant overdrive can be addressed through EMDR, a modality that uses bilateral stimulation (i.e. left and right eye movements) to reduce the emotional distress from traumatic memories. No matter the approach, our work will be centered in an attachment approach that puts a safe therapeutic relationship at the forefront; we will honor everything you had to do to survive and your nervous system will lead the pace, goals, and timing in our collaborative work.
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This question is so real and worth sitting with gentleness with as you ask it. As a survivor, you have probably learned how to protect yourself in ways that may feel challenged by counseling, so pacing, timing, and approach are tailored towards making those protective parts feel safe. I tell my clients that trauma work happens on their timetable and in ways that benefit them rather than re-traumatize them. My work with CPTSD survivors is attachment-based, which means that I put a lot of value on our relationship and trust your system to lead the process and show us what you need. At the end of the day, the amount of healing you can experience is boundless; it just depends on your willingness to undergo the process. Some questions I encourage clients to ask themselves if they are on the fence include: “what are the risks of trying something new?”, “how open am I to change?” and “what can I tolerate more of: the pain I’m in now or the discomfort of trying something different?”
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This is so valid. While a lot of clients feel pressure to go over their entire history at the start of treatment, it’s not necessary. Therapy is a process and we will work together at the beginning of treatment to clarify your goals and determine a productive starting point as a team. Additionally, I trust that you will tell me about your history as you are ready. As the owner of your story, YOU are in charge of what you share and when and I follow your lead in the pace of our sessions.
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The process of therapy inevitably brings up discomfort at times, but my approach to trauma recovery does NOT center around having to relive distressing memories (in fact, we actively avoid that as it is not necessary for healing!). Certain treatments like EMDR do require bringing up unpleasant memories, but it is done in a regulated way that is designed to increase healthy processing and decrease distress over time. I keep my client’s goals top of mind when memory work comes up and help you to ground, regulate, and process effectively from start to end.
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) uses alternating eye, body, or audio movement to engage both sides of your brain (this is called bilateral stimulation). Fight-or-flight responses impair your brain's ability to process trauma as it is happening, so bilateral stimulation enables your mind do what it couldn’t in the moment of shock and distress: communicate across left and right hemispheres. In an EMDR session, bilateral movements are done in tandem with focusing on a traumatic memory and the negative belief associated with it so that your brain can reprocess both. Benefits of EMDR therapy include being able to process both a memory and the thoughts/feelings you have about it at the same time, leading to decreased emotional distress and healthier belief systems.
I utilize an attachment approach to EMDR, which means we can tailor processing around experiences that affected your ability to relate to self and others in a healthy way. This allows you to rewire relational patterns and begin to connect to self and loved ones with more peace, joy, and security.
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1000%. EMDR is just as helpful over a telehealth platform as in-person and is delivered the exact same way. None of the protocols change and the process is equally beneficial both ways.
Dallas CPTSD Counseling FAQ
Childhood Trauma and Neglect Counseling in Uptown Dallas and TX Online
Attachment Based Trauma Therapy in Dallas
Connect to your inner capability to heal through approaches that connect your body, mind, and emotions and orient you towards safety
Nearby the Lower Greenville, Old East Dallas, and Love Field Airport neighborhoods
A hybrid of remote and in-person scheduling options available
CPTSD Recovery in Uptown Dallas
Ready to Reclaim your Life?
A survivor of trauma myself, it’s my greatest honor to help clients heal from abuse and neglect in a way that allows them to live a meaningful life on THEIR terms, at their pace, and in a way that honors all parts of their story. What you did to survive does not define you; your values, dreams, hopes, and core identity are worth fighting for and I’d be honored to be your teammate in the journey. If you’d like to get to know my attachment-based approach and what therapy looks like, I offer free 15 minute consults. My calendar is directly accessible via the "Book Now" button or you can get in touch with me by texting 214-247-6085 or emailing abigail@attachmentlabcounseling.com. I look forward to connecting with you!