What Is Trauma-Informed Therapy? A New York Therapist Explains Why It Matters

Dina had been in therapy twice.

She understood her patterns. She could name her triggers. She'd done the work.

And she still couldn't stop shutting down when her husband raised his voice—even a little.

"Maybe I'm just broken," she said, settling into my couch.

I took a breath and leaned in.

"Dina, you're not broken. You may have been in therapy that wasn't designed for what your body is holding."

She looked at me, confused.

"What do you mean?"

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮-𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆

Traditional talk therapy helps you understand.

Trauma-informed therapy helps you feel safe enough to change.

Because 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀. It lives in your nervous system. It lives in your body.

It shows up in reactions that happen faster than words—in the tightening of the chest, the sudden urge to pull away, the way attention darts or collapses under stress, even when you logically know you're safe.

As Gabor Maté puts it: "𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵."

Trauma-informed therapy works with these responses rather than trying to talk someone out of them. It understands that symptoms aren't signs of weakness—they're intelligent adaptations your nervous system made to survive.

This approach prioritizes safety, pacing, and the body's signals—not just the story being told.

𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗶𝗻𝗮

As we continued working together, something subtle began to stand out.

Each time she spoke about her mother, her eyes moved quickly from right to left.

Not dramatically.

Not consciously.

Just a brief darting movement—easy to miss if you weren't paying close attention.

Dina had no idea she was doing it.

She was talking, but her nervous system was doing something else.

I paused her gently.

"Can we slow down for a moment? I'm noticing your eyes moving back and forth when you talk about your mom. Do you feel that happening?"

She blinked, surprised.

"No… I didn't even realize I was doing that."

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱.

Because trauma—especially early, relational trauma—often disrupts 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀. Instead of feeling from the inside, attention shifts outward. The body learns to scan faces, voices, environments for danger. Hypervigilance replaces self-contact.

As Dina spoke about her mother, a part of her nervous system was still orienting to threat.

Still scanning.

Still bracing.

Even though she was safe in the room.

We stayed with it.

I asked her to notice—not analyze—what happened in the rest of her body as her eyes darted.

After a moment she said quietly, "My chest feels tight. And my stomach feels really far away."

This wasn't something to interpret or fix.

This was information.

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿

Before doing any deeper trauma work—before EMDR, before memory processing, before more explicit somatic interventions—I wanted to help Dina rebuild something foundational: 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.

The basic capacity to notice what is happening 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 her body, in real time, without becoming overwhelmed.

So we worked slowly.

We noticed when the eye movement showed up.

We tracked how activation increased as she spoke about her mother.

We stayed with sensation just long enough for her nervous system to learn that it didn't have to leave.

Nothing forced.

Nothing dramatic.

Just building capacity.

"This is strange," she said one day. "I usually don't notice any of this until I'm already shutting down."

Exactly.

Her body had learned early that awareness wasn't safe. Part of healing was helping her nervous system learn—gradually—that it could be.

Only after this capacity for somatic awareness became more reliable did deeper trauma processing begin.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮-𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲

In my practice, trauma-informed therapy integrates several evidence-based approaches designed to work with both the mind and the body:

→ 𝗘𝗠𝗗𝗥 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆, to help traumatic memories lose their emotional charge

→ 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆, to work directly with nervous system responses

→ 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 (𝗜𝗙𝗦), to support internal safety and coherence

→ 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆, to track how trauma lives in posture, movement, and pattern

The common thread isn't the technique—it's the pacing.

We build the nervous system's capacity first, so deeper work can actually land.

𝗗𝗶𝗻𝗮'𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

When we later processed specific memories using EMDR, Dina's experience was different than it had been in previous therapy.

She could feel her feet on the ground while recalling the past.

She could notice activation rise—and settle.

She could stay present instead of scanning the room or leaving her body.

Months later, she shared something quietly during a session.

"My husband raised his voice the other night—at the TV," she said, almost amused. "I noticed my chest tighten for a second.

But I stayed. I didn't disappear."

The shift wasn't really about him.

It was about her nervous system no longer needing to stay on high alert.

About a fearful part finally learning it didn't have to scan for danger.

About restoring somatic awareness where vigilance used to live.

"I didn't know my body could feel like this," she said.

"Like I'm actually here."

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗗𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮-𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆?

You might benefit from trauma-informed therapy if:

→ You've been in therapy before but still feel stuck

→ You understand your patterns but can't seem to change them

→ You experience physical symptoms under stress

→ You freeze, shut down, or dissociate during conflict

→ You grew up with emotionally unavailable or unpredictable caregivers

→ You notice the same relationship patterns repeating

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮-𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘁

If you're looking for trauma-informed therapy in New York City or Long Island, here are a few questions worth asking:

1. What trauma-specific training do you have?

2. Do you work with the body, or primarily through talk?

3. How do you help clients feel safe before going deeper?

4. What modalities do you use (EMDR, somatic therapy, IFS, etc.)?

The right therapist will prioritize your nervous system—not rush it.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽

If you've been doing the work and still feel like something is missing, it may not be you.

It may be the approach.

Trauma-informed therapy isn't about talking more.

It's about restoring connection—with your body, your signals, and yourself.

You deserve therapy that meets you where you are—not where you think you 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be.

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮, 𝗔𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗬𝗖 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱

We offer EMDR therapy, Somatic Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy.

Wherever you are in your journey, be gentle with yourself. Healing often begins with learning how to listen again.

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝟭𝟱-𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆.

With warmth,

𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿