We learn to avoid physical pain at an early age but many of us can’t seem to escape the grip of emotional and mental pain. We may feel anxious or depressed but unsure of the cause. Or we may have been hurt a long time ago but those wounds continue to affect other areas of our lives. If you’re feeling unsure about how to heal from painful experiences, or if you’ve tried therapy and it didn’t help, we are here for you. 

Our team of highly-trained and compassionate trauma-informed therapists in Massachusetts offer a safe and supportive environment to treat those who experience the lasting effects of trauma. 

Our mental health professionals who take a trauma informed approach to counseling will validate you and understand your unique experiences of trauma. Non-judgmentally, our therapists recognize that those of us who have experienced trauma may have behavioral, emotional, or physical adaptations that have developed in response to traumatic events. 

Your therapist will offer the appropriate tools and interventions that best suit your lifestyle, helping you to cope with your symptoms of trauma, navigate life challenges, and move forward with healthier and more adaptive skills. 

Our therapists and counselors are here to safely support you online in Massachusetts or in-person from our offices in Amherst, Franklin, West Springfield, Wilbraham, or Natick offices. 

What is Trauma?

Trauma is an emotional response to stressful, frightening, or distressing events that feel out of our control. Trauma can be both one incident or ongoing events that happen over a long period of time. It can happen at any age, and can affect us at any time, including a long time after the events have happened. 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) describes individual trauma as an event resulting in: 

• physical harm 
• emotional harm 
• and/or life threatening harm

Traumatic events have a lasting impact on on an individual’s: 

• mental health 
• physical health
• emotional health
• social well-being
• spiritual well-being

What is Trauma-Informed Therapy?

Trauma-informed therapy is a specific approach of therapy that identifies and emphasizes understanding how traumatic experiences impact a person’s mental, behavioral, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual health and well-being. 

Trauma-informed therapists understand that people who’ve experienced trauma have unique behavioral, emotional, or physical adaptations which they have developed in response to traumatic events. 

Safely and non-judgmentally, clinicians work collaboratively with clients in better understanding, coping with, processing emotions and memories tied to traumatic experiences, resulting in healthier and more adaptive ways of living with the experiences that took place. 

Clients will benefit from an individualized treatment plan that address the types of trauma endured, while developing tools and interventions that promote a greater sense of dignity, agency, and clarity.

What are the Benefits of Trauma-Informed Therapy?

Trauma-informed counseling can be beneficial to anyone who has experienced a traumatic event or events. 

Learning about trauma: By engaging in trauma-informed treatment, you will learn more about what you are experiencing, and why certain thoughts, feelings, and behavioral patterns occur. 

Re-establishing safety: A benefit of trauma-informed care is to assist you in re-developing internal (emotional, physical, relational) and physical (touch, the environment) sense of safety. You will learn how to respond to your environment in healthier and safer ways.

Identifying triggers: Trauma-informed therapy can help you learn to identify, understand, explore, and express memories and emotions related to the trauma you experienced. You will also learn to recognize what feelings and experiences may be tied to traumatic memories and work to become more appropriately attuned to your environment over time. 

Developing healthier coping skills: You will learn to discover skills and coping strategies to better respond to reminders and emotions associated with the traumatic experiences. You may learn anxiety management and relaxation practices that promote resilience and empowerment in your life. 

Reducing traumatic stress responses: By working closely with your trauma-informed therapist you will develop practices and skills that help decrease traumatic stress symptoms and other mental health symptoms associated with trauma. You may experience a decrease in feelings of depression, anxiety, shame, guilt, hopelessness, restlessness, among other symptoms. 

Practicing trauma processing: Your trauma-informed therapist will help you regain agency over your past experiences by assisting you to re-narrate your story. Over time, you will have the opportunity to process or organize your unique experiences into your daily life, make meaning of the events, and identify how they relate to your view of yourself and the world around you.

Start Working with a Trauma-Informed Therapist in Massachusetts Today:

Our trauma-informed providers at Handel Behavioral Health understand the heavy impact that a painful childhood, partner, friendship, situation, or oppressive system can have on you.  

You deserve to heal from the trauma you endured, and develop adaptive coping skills so that you can live a meaningful, authentic, and empowered life. 

To start working with one of our trauma-informed therapists online in Massachusetts or in-person from our offices in Amherst, Franklin, West Springfield, Wilbraham, or Natick, contact us today at (413) 343-4357 or request an appointment online!

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