Margaret (Maggie) Kerrigan

"The here and now is always changing, always flowing. It is the only place where change can occur." Christine Caldwell

1333 W 120th Street

Westminster CO 80234

720-635-7943

Maggie@HealingAfterTrauma.com

Resolving trauma and not just coping with its symptoms IS possible. When you experience threat you are designed to move through it and discharge the experience. Unlike animals in the wild, however, you may override the natural impulse to complete the threat response. Sometimes, you do this because you get distracted by having to explain what happened to such people as the medics or police; other times, you may be too embarrassed and shut down the impulse to shake or cry; in addition, you may become too frightened of the physical sensations that accompany discharge and you tell yourself to ignore what wants to happen.

The symptoms of trauma occur when the body's natural responses to threat get stuck in the body. Some of these symptoms are depression, anxiety, sudden shifts from rage to collapse, digestive and sexual difficulties, racing heart rate or holding the breath; confusion, isolation, feeling the need to be on-guard, and disturbed sleep. Symptoms occurred because too much happened too quickly or when you had too little support.

Through a body-centered psychotherapeutic approach called Somatic Experiencing, created by Dr Peter Levine, I will support you to complete the biological responses to threat. Some of these responses include orienting toward the threat, allowing time for your natural response to fight or flee to arise and then supporting the nervous system to rest deeply. While cognitive and behavioral models of therapy will help you develp coping strategies to handle the symptoms, it is necessary to give attention to what your body wants to do to dimish or eliminate the symptoms.

Somatic Experiencing is designed to help you complete the unfinished biological steps. The result is often a dramatic reduction in symptoms and a return to an "I can" stance in the world.