Therapy Group of DC
Trauma leaves an imprint on both the mind and body. A traumatic event can change how you see yourself, how you relate to others, and how safe you feel in the world. You may find yourself constantly on edge, avoiding certain situations, or feeling disconnected from your own life. These responses made sense at the time — they helped you survive. But now they’re getting in the way.
Trauma therapy helps you process what happened so your nervous system can finally recognize that the danger has passed. At Therapy Group of DC, our trauma-informed therapists work with clients who have experienced trauma ranging from single incidents to complex, ongoing experiences. Whether you meet criteria for post traumatic stress disorder or simply recognize that past events are affecting your present life, we can help.
Washington DC’s high-pressure environment can intensify the impact of traumatic experiences — affecting both your personal well-being and professional life. Our therapists understand the unique stressors of working in government, advocacy, policy, and other demanding DC careers, and how these environments can both cause and complicate trauma. Vicarious trauma, in particular, is an occupational hazard in a city where entire industries are built around witnessing and addressing suffering.
Our approach to treating trauma is relational at its core — grounded in trauma-informed care principles that prioritize your safety, choice, and control throughout the healing process. We also draw on evidence-based approaches including EMDR therapy, trauma-informed CBT, somatic therapies, and psychodynamic therapy, tailoring treatment to your specific mental health needs and goals.
A lot of people who come to us for trauma therapy have been functioning well on the outside for years — sometimes decades. The most common thing we hear is some version of “I didn’t think what happened to me was bad enough to need help.” There’s no threshold you have to cross. If past experiences are affecting your present life, that’s enough.
What Is Trauma Therapy?
Trauma therapy is a specialized form of mental health treatment focused on helping you process traumatic experiences so they no longer control your present. It goes beyond traditional talk therapy by directly addressing the ways trauma has reshaped your nervous system, beliefs, relationships, and sense of self. Many trauma survivors don’t realize how deeply past traumatic events have influenced their daily lives until they begin this work.
- Processing traumatic memories. Helping your brain integrate what happened so memories lose their emotional charge — through approaches like EMDR, somatic work, or trauma-informed CBT with cognitive restructuring and gradual exposure.
- Restoring nervous system regulation. Trauma keeps your body in a state of constant alert. Treatment helps you move from hypervigilance to a calmer baseline — reducing difficulty sleeping, panic attacks, and the physical symptoms many trauma survivors carry.
- Rebuilding safety and trust. Traumatic events — especially relational trauma — disrupt your ability to feel safe with others. Therapy helps you rebuild that capacity through a consistent, attuned therapeutic relationship.
- Challenging trauma-driven beliefs. Negative beliefs like “I’m broken,” “It was my fault,” or “No one can be trusted” often develop after traumatic events. Trauma-informed approaches help you examine and update these beliefs so your mental health can recover.
The goal isn’t to erase what happened — it’s to integrate it so your past stops intruding on your present. With proper support, many people see significant improvement in their mental health within months, and recovery rates for post traumatic stress disorder reach 60–80% with evidence-based treatment.
Jennifer
Xihlovo
Jessica
Rose
Kevin
Tyler
Specialized Trauma Therapy Services
Some experiences benefit from specialized approaches. Our trauma-informed therapists address a broad range of mental health concerns related to trauma — explore our dedicated services below.
A powerful, evidence-based approach that uses bilateral stimulation to help your brain reprocess traumatic memories. Effective for PTSD, anxiety, and experiences where you feel stuck despite understanding what happened.
Specialized therapy for trauma that happened over time — not just once. A phase-based approach for trauma survivors of childhood abuse, domestic violence, or other chronic traumatic experiences.
For people recovering from emotional manipulation, narcissistic abuse, or trauma bonding. We help you recognize the patterns, rebuild your sense of self, and break the cycle.
For adults realizing their 'normal' wasn't. We help you understand how early experiences shaped your patterns — and build the life you want now.
For people managing PTSD symptoms while excelling professionally. We help you process trauma without disrupting the career and daily life you've worked to maintain.
For helpers carrying the weight of others' pain. We help healthcare providers, attorneys, journalists, and advocates process what they've absorbed.
Major changes — job loss, breakups, sudden illness — can be traumatic, especially when they activate patterns from earlier experiences.
Our Approach to Treating Trauma
At its core, healing from trauma happens in relationship. Our therapists create a space where you can experience safety, attunement, and connection — often the very things traumatic experiences disrupted. This relational foundation shapes everything we do. We practice trauma-informed care throughout — which means your therapist pays close attention to your nervous system, noticing when you’re feeling overwhelmed or disconnected and helping you return to a window where processing can happen.
Trauma-Informed Relational Therapy
For many clients — especially those with relational trauma from childhood — consistent, trustworthy connection over time is the primary mode of treatment. Your therapist becomes a secure base from which you can explore difficult material at your own pace. Trauma-informed care means creating safety, building trust, and ensuring you maintain choice and control in the therapy process — whether your mental health concerns center on a single traumatic event or years of accumulated experiences.
Evidence-Based Trauma Protocols
Some clients also benefit from specific modalities designed to target trauma directly. EMDR therapy uses bilateral stimulation to help your brain reprocess traumatic memories so they lose their emotional charge. Trauma-informed CBT helps you identify and challenge the negative beliefs and avoidance patterns that developed after traumatic events. Somatic therapies address the physical impacts of trauma — the chronic tension, bodily sensations, and nervous system dysregulation that talk therapy alone may not reach.
Tailored to You
Effective trauma treatment isn’t one-size-fits-all. The impact of traumatic events varies from person to person, and our therapists draw on multiple trauma focused therapy approaches to match your needs. Your therapist will help you determine whether the relational work itself is sufficient or whether adding a structured protocol like EMDR or cognitive processing therapy makes sense for your situation. The therapy process always moves at your pace.
You've been carrying this long enough
Our trauma-informed therapists help you process what happened — safely, at your pace, with someone trained to guide the way.
Is Trauma Therapy Right for You?
You might benefit from trauma therapy if you:
What to know:
- You don’t need a formal PTSD diagnosis to benefit from trauma therapy — many people experience significant trauma symptoms without meeting full diagnostic criteria
- Trauma therapy moves at your pace — you stay in control throughout the process, and emotional pain is addressed at a level you can manage
- Evidence-based trauma treatments including EMDR, prolonged exposure therapy, and cognitive processing therapy produce recovery rates of 60–80%
- With proper support, many people see significant improvement in their mental health within months
Our Trauma Therapy Approaches
We draw on multiple evidence-based approaches depending on your experience, symptoms, and goals. Every trauma therapist on our team tailors their approach to what fits your situation.
EMDR Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing uses bilateral stimulation to help your brain reprocess traumatic memories. One of the most researched treatments for post traumatic stress disorder — and particularly effective when traumatic memories continue to intrude despite intellectual understanding of what happened. EMDR can also help with panic attacks, anxiety, and grief.
Learn More →Psychodynamic & Relational
Explores how traumatic experiences — especially early or relational trauma — have shaped your patterns of thinking, feeling, and relating. This approach addresses not just the events but the lasting imprint they’ve left on your relationships, self-image, and unconscious responses. Our deepest clinical bench.
Learn More →Integrative & Somatic
Combines somatic therapies, trauma-informed CBT, narrative therapy, and mindfulness-based approaches. Addresses the physical impacts of trauma alongside the cognitive and emotional — because traumatic memories are stored in the body as well as the mind. Includes coping skills, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance work.
Why Washington DC Chooses Therapy Group of DC for Trauma Therapy
The unique pressures of trauma in DC
Washington DC creates conditions for trauma that few other cities match. Vicarious trauma affects entire industries here — journalists covering crises, attorneys representing survivors, advocates fighting systemic violence, intelligence professionals processing classified material. Career uncertainty with changing administrations means the ground shifts regularly underfoot. And DC’s professional culture often minimizes emotional pain, creating an expectation to stay composed and compartmentalize that makes it harder to acknowledge when past traumatic events are affecting your mental health and well-being. Our therapists understand these DC-specific stressors because we work with them every day.
Trauma specialists — not generalists
Our team includes therapists with specialized training in EMDR, trauma-focused psychotherapy, IFS, and psychodynamic approaches to trauma. We match you with a therapist whose expertise fits your specific experience — not whoever has an opening. Whether you’re processing a single traumatic event, navigating complex trauma from childhood, or carrying the weight of multiple traumatic events through vicarious exposure in your professional life, you’ll work with someone who understands the clinical territory.
What real progress looks like
Real healing from trauma isn’t about “getting over it” or learning to cope better. It’s about processing traumatic memories so they become part of your past rather than intruding into your present. Our depth-oriented approach means you won’t just manage trauma symptoms — you’ll change your relationship with what happened at a fundamental level. That’s the difference between surface-level coping strategies and the kind of lasting change that improves your mental health and lets you build a fulfilling life beyond trauma.
Trauma therapy is one of the areas where our practice has the deepest bench. Several of our therapists work almost exclusively with trauma — and the rest have significant training in trauma-informed approaches. We take matching seriously here, because the fit between you and your therapist matters even more when the work involves this level of vulnerability.
Our Trauma Therapy Team
Every therapist on our trauma team brings specialized training in evidence-based trauma treatment. We’re currently accepting new clients — we’ll match you with someone whose approach and experience fit your specific situation.
