Our clients tend to be highly functional people with good things in their lives—stable relationships, friendships and meaningful work. 

Here at Cutting Edge Counseling in West Los Angeles, we’ve noticed that even though we’re known as trauma therapists, many of our clients don’t see themselves as having experienced trauma.

Instead, they notice that they don’t feel happy even with all these positives. And that leads them to judge themselves as ungrateful.

Let’s dig deeper into who comes to see us for trauma therapy and why.

What are the signs of unhealed trauma?

Even if you are highly functional with meaningful work, good relationships and an overall successful life, you might still not feel happy.

Unprocessed trauma may be at the root of why you’re not feeling right in your day-to-day life.

Unhealed trauma may show up as:

• Feeling thrown off balance by what seems like small events

• Frequent struggles with negative thoughts and self-criticism

• Shame and anxiety

• Worry about the future

• Disturbing memories

• Sleep difficulties

Can I feel better if years of therapy haven’t helped me yet?

You may have had a lot of talk therapy and hit a wall. That wall is often unrecognized trauma. You have gained insight into why you’re unhappy but still feel anxiety, stress, and overwhelm.

If you have a high level of emotional intelligence, you may feel frustrated because you know the WHY behind how you’re feeling but you are stuck on figuring out the HOW when it comes to feeling better.

The good news is that there is real hope to be had in trauma and PTSD healing.

As therapists who specialize in trauma, we have developed a 4-pronged comprehensive approach to help people to feel better and have seen the results in our own lives. 

We use EMDR and Somatic Experiencing, two trauma therapies backed by neuroscience. 

We also use Attachment Repair to help create an embodied sense of safety within yourself and within your relationships and Mindfulness Therapy to help you develop skillfulness in working with anxious and depressive thoughts.

Is trauma therapy right for you?

You may be questioning whether you need trauma therapy. If you had a happy childhood, a lack of financial stress throughout your life and parents who love you, you might feel like you shouldn’t seek therapy.

You might avoid getting the help you need because you don’t want to get stuck in a resentment loop - something many people feel like they get into with talk therapy. Trauma therapy is not about blaming your parents. That might be part of your journey but it does not bring freedom.

You may look around at your life and blame yourself. “What’s the matter with me?  I have everything going for me. Why aren’t I happy?”

You might feel like your trauma doesn’t count because you compare your struggles to others. We call this “the pain sweepstakes” because no one wins with this limiting belief. Each of us is worthy of more ease in life.

If you feel stuck and confused because you have lots of things to be happy about in your life, trauma therapy can help you move forward with more resiliency and ease.

Therapy that works

We are Stephanie Book Koehler MA LMFT and Lee Ann Teaney MA LMFT and we specialize in healing trauma. We use science-backed therapies such as EMDR and Somatic Experiencing as well as Attachment Repair and Mindfulness to help our clients feel better, find resilience, and get the life they want.

We invite you to call or write us. Let’s talk about how our trauma therapy services can help you thrive.