Why Trauma-Focused Therapy Feels Different: Detailing An Inside the Room Experience from a Denver Trauma Therapist
By Jordan Kurtz (she/her), MA, LPCC, Denver Trauma Therapist
When clients initiate contact with therapists at our office, we begin by holding a free consultation call to discuss hopes, current concerns and answer outstanding questions. On our end, we often ask clients if they have had previous therapy experience and what it was like.
A common response we hear from folks is their pursuit for “something deeper”.
While “deeper” means something different person to person, a common consensus within the therapy room is that it implies a desire for healing that extends beyond temporary relief.
At CZ Therapy Group, we approach all of our work from a trauma-focused lens that examines your story from a “bottom-up” perspective.
What does this mean? We explore how pain and resilience (past, present and future) manifest emotionally, physiologically, and mentally and how we have adapted to accommodate that pain.
Rather than coaching how to “send away” discomfort when it arises, we collaborate empathically and without shame to hold your pain together, listen to needs attached to it, and identify ways to communicate that need and search for resolve.
Trauma-focused therapy is different than traditional therapies in a variety of ways and below we discuss what those differences look like in the therapy room.
CZ Therapy Group Focus: Trauma Therapy in Denver, CO
Holistic emotional, mental, bodily focus
Identifying and honoring protections
Understanding the “root”/deeper origins of trauma and facilitating healing from here
Relationally driven
Other Therapy Focus
Cognitive and behaviorally based
Correcting maladaptive coping mechanisms
Addressing the present symptom
Individually driven
Impact of Holistic Focus versus Cognitive Focus - Perspective of a Denver Trauma Therapist
One of the most common types of therapy is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Since its debut in the 1960s, CBT has undoubtedly beneficially contributed to the therapy landscape with its acknowledgement that thoughts about ourselves, the world and others influence our emotions and behaviors.
CBT’s premise is that by changing our thoughts, our emotions and behaviors will respond accordingly. While there are certainly elements of truth to this philosophy, our emotional brains and logical brains are often in conflict. We may “know” something is irrational, untrue, or unkind, but we cannot align our emotions and behaviors with an alternative thought in a manner that feels authentic.
At CZ Therapy Group, the trauma therapists on our team honor the power of our thoughts but give greater privilege to the emotions attached to them and underneath them.
Our belief is that if we uncover, validate, and learn from feelings, our internal narratives will respond accordingly and meaningfully. Moreover, we also guide clients in identifying how feelings manifest inside their bodies. Certain types of pain and trauma are too overwhelming for our minds to process so our bodies hold onto these emotions which in turn manifest as anxiety, lethargy, chronic pain and more. By allowing our minds to pause and offering space to connect with physical responses, we become closer to emotions that influence our lives.
Impact of Reframing “Maladaptive” Coping Mechanisms as Protections
When under duress of any kind, we seek relief. Relief comes in many forms, including but not limited to seeking others, seeking distance, using substances, refraining from substances, physical activity, self-harm, spiritual practices, hobbies, and sleep.
Coping mechanisms that promote isolation, harm or reliance on an external factor (i.e. a drug) are labeled by some therapists as “maladaptive”, “poor” or “negative” with the intention of directing clients towards alternative coping mechanisms that encourage self-reliance, physical health and community.
While there are positive intentions within this, 1) it can promote shame and enforce a power dynamic in which only the therapist knows “what’s best”, and 2) it neglects understanding of the root source of pain driving us to seek relief in ways that are modeled to us or accessible to us.
At CZ Therapy Group, we conceptualize responses to avoid pain as protective and adaptive to survival. Instead of trying to “correct” how people are responding to pain, we bring to light the relationship between painful emotions and our behaviors (protections).
By giving the emotion attention, we are eventually able to recognize core needs associated with it and fulfill those core needs with healing forms of coping.
Impact of Understanding the Core versus Eliminating Symptoms
Core emotions of fear, anger, sadness, disgust, joy, and excitement are the primary drivers of our thoughts and behaviors- whether we are conscious of them or not.
Many therapies address the reactions to core emotions versus the emotions themselves.
For example, a client presenting with anxiety being taught breathing exercises or to notice their anxious thoughts and rewrite them to something more positive.
Paying attention to symptoms are undoubtedly part of the CZ Therapy Group process, but when working with a trauma therapist on our team, you will be supported to take it a step further by identifying what emotions and experiences are at the heart of your symptoms to create increased understanding of your needs and autonomy over our actions.
In the example used above, this could look like addressing fear of not being enough as the core driver of anxiety, and working with that fear instead of addressing its surface presentation of anxiety.
Impact of Growing the Therapeutic Relationship
Last but not least, a primary difference between trauma-focused therapy through a bottom-up, relational approach and other therapies is the emphasis on the power of the therapeutic relationship.
Some therapists believe it is important to present as an expert and lead clients to self-insight or a “cure” as a teacher or doctor would. Furthermore, others believe that the therapist should be a “blank slate” who does not share emotions with their clients or contribute to conversation.
A primary philosophy at CZ Therapy Group is that healing is facilitated by undoing aloneness.
The essence of togetherness is a desire to be present in emotion alongside someone else, and that is part of the therapeutic approach for all therapists here. We will share in successes and pain with you by creating a safe container for compassion and checking in with you consistently about if we are understanding you in ways that feel authentic and supportive of your unique needs and experience.
Eager to learn more? Explore another recent blog on the intersections of yoga and trauma therapy to support mind-body healing or reach out to work with a Denver trauma therapist on our team.
Explore Trauma Therapy in Denver, CO - Connect with a Denver trauma therapist at CZTG today by following these three steps:
Schedule a free 20-minute consult call to see if trauma therapy in Denver is right for you.
Connect with the CZTG trauma therapist of your choice via a phone consult.
Begin your healing journey!
Meet The Writer: Jordan Kurtz, Trauma Therapist in Denver, CO.
Jordan Kurtz (she/her) is a Denver trauma therapist, couples counselor, and staff writer at CZTG. Jordan focuses on therapy for grief, trauma, adolescence, and relationships. Her approach is authentic, warm, and affirming, which she interweaves throughout her use of advanced evidence-based modalities, including EMDR, Emotion Focused Therapy for Couples (EFT), and somatic therapy. She provides trauma therapy in Denver and virtually throughout the state of Colorado. If you’d like to work with Jordan, feel free to reach out to schedule a consultation call.