Trauma & PTSD Counseling
What happened to you matters, and healing can happen at your pace
Trauma can come from a single event, like an accident, assault, or loss, or from things that happened over and over, like abuse, neglect, discrimination, or living in unsafe situations. Its effects can linger long after the danger has passed. Trauma-informed counseling offers a safe place to work through it without being rushed. Sessions are held by secure telehealth for children ages 5 and up, adolescents, teens, and adults across the Acadiana region and throughout Louisiana.
How Trauma Can Show Up
Common effects of trauma
Trauma affects the body and mind in ways that can be confusing. None of these mean something is wrong with you. They are ways people try to survive.
Reliving it
Nightmares, flashbacks, or memories that show up when you least expect them.
Always on guard
Feeling jumpy, tense, easily startled, or unable to relax, even when you are safe.
Avoidance and numbness
Staying away from reminders, shutting down feelings, or feeling disconnected from others.
Coping that hurts
Using alcohol, drugs, or other behaviors to quiet memories or feelings.
How Counseling Helps
Safety first, then healing
Trauma-informed care means you stay in control. You decide what to share and when. We start by building safety, trust, and skills for handling strong emotions before going deeper into painful experiences.
Work may include grounding and coping skills, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) tools for the beliefs trauma can leave behind, and making sense of how past experiences affect your relationships and daily life today.
- You set the pace and the boundaries
- Skills for grounding and managing triggers
- Making sense of how trauma affects you now
- Care for trauma and substance use together
Trauma and Substance Use
The two are often connected
Many people who struggle with substance use have a history of trauma, and addressing one without the other rarely holds. As a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Addiction Counselor, I treat both together, with respect and without shame.
LGBTQIA+ clients are also welcome to bring experiences of rejection, discrimination, or identity-based trauma into sessions. This is an affirming space.
In Crisis Right Now?
Please don't wait for a reply here.
If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), call 911, or go to your nearest emergency room. This website does not provide emergency services.