By: Janelle Schlueter, MS, LPC, NCC, CCTP Starting therapy can feel both hopeful and intimidating. Many people reach out because they are ready to heal but feel nervous about what the process will look like, especially that very first trauma therapy session. If you have ever wondered, “What actually happens in trauma therapy?” you are…
By: Janelle Schlueter, MS, LPC, NCC, CCTP Sex after sexual trauma can be an uncomfortable experience. Sexual trauma doesn’t just affect the moment it happens — it can ripple through every part of a survivor’s life. One of the most vulnerable and complicated areas it can impact is physical intimacy. For many survivors, sex —…
By: Janelle Schlueter, MS, LPC, NCC, CCTP Healing from sexual trauma is a deeply personal journey — one that touches many layers of an individual: safety, body, identity, boundaries, and intimacy. And when you’re in a relationship, the process of rebuilding sexual trust can feel like a whole new mountain to climb. The good news?…
By: Janelle Schlueter, MS, LPC, NCC, CCTP Is loving a survivor of a sexual trauma difficult? If someone you love is a survivor of sexual trauma, you may feel unsure of how to support them — especially when it comes to intimacy and sex. You may want to help, to heal alongside them, to show…
By: M. Katherine Lickteig, MA, LPC Associate Supervised by Melissa Barton, MA, LPC-S Understanding the nuances between “little” and “big” trauma is crucial for addressing and helping to heal from these experiences. Understanding the distinctions between little traumas and big traumas can help you and…
By: M. Katherine Lickteig, MA, LPC Associate Supervised by Melissa Barton, MA, LPC-S Preventing Teen Dating Violence Your Teens and Developing Healthy Relationship Teen dating violence is a pressing issue that affects adolescents and can have lasting negative impacts. Raising awareness and taking proactive steps…
By: Janelle Schlueter, MS, LPC, NCC, CCTP When individuals go through a traumatic event, their brain has the capacity to process it in various ways. To illustrate this idea to my clients, I often explain a hypothetical scenario. Suppose a plane carrying 100 passengers crashes,…
By: Janelle Schlueter, MS, LPC, NCC, CCTP As a trauma-specialized therapist, I see clients who have survived severe trauma. When beginning to work with these clients, they commonly cannot imagine a mindset free from their trauma. Even more unimaginable is having a positive change to…
By: Janelle Schlueter, MS, LPC, NCC, CCTP If you have decided it is time to heal from trauma, you may wonder, “how does trauma recovery work in the therapy setting”? There is a model developed by Judith Herman, an expert in PTSD treatment, that many…
By: Jessica Johns-Green, LPC 5 Misconceptions about the Effects of Trauma Let’s talk about the effects of trauma! What are they? When the unthinkable happens, our body is built to survive. The nervous system goes into high gear, employing its ingenious methods of getting us…