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Trauma

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Trauma-Informed Care in Colorado Springs

Trauma is not just what happened to you, but also how your mind and body have had to adapt in order to survive. Experiences such as abuse, neglect, violence, accidents, medical events, or sudden loss can leave lasting effects on emotions, relationships, and health. At Rain Tree Mental Health, we provide trauma-informed evaluation and medication management for adults in Colorado Springs and via telehealth throughout Colorado. Our goal is to create a safe, respectful space where your story is heard and your nervous system can begin to find more stability.

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What do we mean by trauma?

Trauma can be a single overwhelming event or a series of smaller, ongoing experiences that exceed your capacity to cope. This may include physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; neglect; domestic or community violence; combat experiences; medical or birth trauma; bullying; discrimination; or growing up in a chronically unsafe or unstable environment. People often minimize their past (“it wasn’t that bad”), but the nervous system remembers even when the mind tries to move on.

Common ways trauma can show up in daily life

Trauma affects people in many different ways. Some common experiences include:

  • Feeling on edge, hypervigilant, or easily startled

  • Strong emotional reactions that feel out of proportion to the current situation

  • Difficulty trusting others or feeling close to people

  • Nightmares, intrusive memories, or vivid emotional flashbacks

  • Numbing, disconnection, or feeling “shut down”

  • Patterns of people-pleasing, caretaking, or difficulty setting boundaries

  • Using substances, food, work, or other behaviors to cope with overwhelming feelings

  • Chronic feelings of shame, worthlessness, or not being “good enough”

You may or may not meet full criteria for PTSD and you may have mixed feelings about the word “trauma.” What matters to us is how your experiences are affecting you now and how we can support you.

How we approach trauma-informed evaluation

Trauma-informed care means we recognize that many symptoms—anxiety, depression, sleep problems, attention difficulties, mood swings—may be shaped by past experiences. In an evaluation, we focus on safety, consent, and collaboration. This may include:

  • Talking about your current concerns first, at your pace

  • Exploring how past experiences may be connected to present symptoms, only when you feel ready

  • Reviewing mental health history, medical conditions, medications, and substance use

  • Screening for related conditions such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and ADHD

  • Clarifying goals for treatment—what feeling “better” would actually look like in your life

You are always in control of how much detail you share. Our priority is to help you feel respected, believed, and supported—not pushed to disclose more than you want to.

Treatment and medication management for trauma-related symptoms

Medication does not erase trauma, but it can reduce certain symptoms so healing work becomes more possible. Depending on your needs, your plan may include:

  • Medications to help with depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, or mood swings linked to trauma

  • Education about how trauma affects the brain, nervous system, and body

  • Support with grounding skills, emotion regulation, and pacing change so it feels manageable

  • Coordination with trauma-informed therapists (for example, EMDR, somatic therapy, or trauma-focused CBT) when desired

  • Regular follow-ups to monitor how you are feeling and adjust the plan as needed

We work together so that any medication or treatment choice fits your values, history, and capacity—not a one-size-fits-all protocol.

Is it trauma, PTSD, or something else?

People often wonder whether what they went through “counts” as trauma or whether their symptoms are due to PTSD, depression, anxiety, personality patterns, or something else. Trauma can overlap with many diagnoses, and labels can sometimes feel confusing or stigmatizing. Our role is to help you make sense of your experiences, not to force you into a category. Together, we will look at the full picture and talk about which descriptions feel accurate and helpful.

If your past experiences are still shaping your present in ways that feel painful or limiting, you do not have to manage it alone. Support is available, and change is possible at your own pace.

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