My name is Elisa, therapist with experience working with emotional dysregulation issues, such as anxiety, panic, depression, phobias, addictions, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or conditions that, despite not requiring a diagnosis, affect daily life. For instance, life changes aren’t necessarily triggers of disorders, but they can still be challenging, such as grieving a loved one, being fired, breaking up with a long-time partner, among others.
I decided to specialize in the treatment of trauma when I got to observe how common it actually is, and how it often explains the prolonged and heightened distress of the aforementioned issues. People that have lived through traumatic events have a higher likelyhood of feeling overwhelming anxiety or incapacitating depression, to name a few examples.
When we talk about traumatic situations we refer to a wide array of possibilities. There are the “big T” traumas, which are those events in life in which our physical integrity has been threatened (car accidents, rape, episodes of physical violence, being threatened with harm…). But there are also “small t” traumas, which aren’t very intense but happen frequently, oftentimes spanning for years (for instance, a child who is called worthless and stupid by his parents for years will likely believe they are not good enough not only then, but also later in life).
Due to the schools of thought that I follow to understand mental health, I don’t believe that there are problems that appear “just because”. I believe it is important to ask about the “symptom” in a critical way. Why would someone react to being fired from their job with temporary anger and sadness while someone else might have a suicide attempt? Why can some people drink responsibly while others explain that they feel a complete lack of control? Research in the field is consistently pointing us towards personal history rather than genetics.
While there are techniques to modify thoughts, feelings and behaviors in a superficial way, I believe that a complete treatment needs to at least reach a hypothesis on why the person is the way that it is in that specific moment. In order to achieve that, I have completed the following studies: