Trauma Therapy | Fair Lawn, NJ
When the Past Still Feels Present
You might look put together on the outside—functioning at work, showing up for your family, smiling when you need to. But inside, something feels fractured. Maybe your mind flashes back to painful moments without warning. Maybe your body feels constantly tense, or you shut down emotionally just to get through the day. You feel jumpy, exhausted, disconnected—or numb.
You might avoid certain people, places, or even emotions because they feel too overwhelming to handle. You keep moving forward, but the past keeps tugging at your sleeve. Your body remembers what your mind has tried to forget.
Whether your trauma stems from childhood experiences, an abusive relationship, a medical emergency, a loss, or a life-altering event, the result is the same: your nervous system is stuck in survival mode. You’re not broken. You’re doing what you needed to do to survive. But it doesn’t have to stay this way forever.
You’re Not the Only One Struggling With Trauma
Trauma is far more common than most people realize. National studies show that more than 70% of adults have experienced at least one traumatic event. And trauma isn’t defined by how “bad” something looks from the outside—it’s defined by how your body and nervous system experienced it.
Many people carry invisible trauma wounds from experiences that were never labeled as trauma:
Growing up in a home where emotions weren’t safe
Being chronically invalidated, shamed, or ignored
Enduring bullying, exclusion, or emotional neglect
Medical procedures that left your body feeling unsafe
Ongoing stress, poverty, caregiving responsibilities, or burnout
The impact of trauma is deeply personal. You are not overreacting. And you’re not alone. If something hurt you, changed you, or left you feeling unsafe in your own skin, it’s valid. And you deserve a space to work through it with compassion and care.
How Trauma Therapy Helps You Reclaim Your Life
Trauma therapy is not about forcing you to relive painful memories. It’s about helping you feel safer in your own body, regulate your nervous system, and reconnect with the parts of you that learned to survive. It’s about helping you move from surviving to living—at a pace that respects your boundaries and capacity.
At Mati Sicherer Mental Health Services in Fair Lawn, NJ, trauma therapy is always trauma-informed, collaborative, and grounded in respect for your story. We may use:
Parts work (IFS-informed): Helping you explore the inner parts of yourself that have protected you—like the avoider, the overachiever, or the shutdown part—and learning how to care for them with compassion.
Mind-body awareness: Using grounding and somatic strategies to help your body feel safer and more regulated.
Narrative therapy: Giving space for your story to be seen and heard—not in shame, but with strength and validation.
Attachment-focused work: Understanding how trauma impacts your relationships and rebuilding trust from the inside out.
This work is gentle, paced by you, and deeply attuned to your needs. You’ll never be pushed to go where you’re not ready to go. Instead, we’ll move together toward stability, safety, and healing—one step at a time.
Why Trauma Survivors Often Avoid Therapy
If you’ve been hurt by someone you trusted—whether a caregiver, partner, teacher, or even a previous therapist—reaching out for help can feel dangerous. You may worry:
What if I fall apart and can’t put myself back together?
What if my story is too much—or not enough to count as trauma?
What if I’m just being dramatic?
What if talking about it makes everything worse?
These fears make sense. They’re not signs of weakness—they’re signs that your body and mind have done their best to protect you. At Mati Sicherer Mental Health Services, we deeply respect that need for safety, autonomy, and control.
That’s why trauma therapy here is never retraumatizing. It’s designed to be:
Grounding, not overwhelming
Empowering, not exposing
Stabilizing, not chaotic
You won’t be forced to share anything you’re not ready to. You set the pace. We follow your cues. And when you’re ready to move deeper, I’ll be right there with you.
What Trauma Therapy Can Help With
Trauma can show up in many ways—some obvious, some more hidden. If you’ve experienced trauma, you might be dealing with:
Flashbacks or intrusive thoughts
Sleep disturbances or nightmares
Hypervigilance and startle response
Emotional numbness or shutdown
Relationship difficulties and trust issues
Chronic self-doubt or shame
Anxiety, depression, or panic attacks
Difficulty feeling safe, even in calm environments
Whether your trauma is from a single event or ongoing experiences over time, therapy can help you begin to unwind those survival responses. Over time, many clients find themselves feeling more present, more in control, and more connected to their emotions, their body, and their life.
Trauma Therapy for Parents, Neurodivergent Clients, and Caregivers
I also work with many clients navigating the intersection of trauma and:
Neurodivergence (autism, ADHD, SPD)
Parenting stress or caregiving trauma
Medical trauma, birth trauma, or chronic illness
Relationship trauma and emotional neglect
Religious trauma or high-control environments
Together, we can explore how these layers interact and support you in finding more ease, agency, and safety in your nervous system. I’m especially sensitive to how trauma shows up in those who are often overlooked—like people-pleasers, perfectionists, or caregivers who never stop.
There Is Hope—And You Deserve to Heal
You may not be able to change what happened, but you can absolutely change how it continues to affect you. You can learn to trust your body again. You can soften the fear. You can move through grief, anger, and shame toward something more whole and free.
You don’t have to keep living in survival mode.
You don’t have to be alone with the memories, the fear, or the freeze.
With the right support, healing is not only possible—it’s already beginning, just by you being here.
Ready to Begin Healing?
At Mati Sicherer Mental Health Services in Fair Lawn, NJ, I offer trauma therapy that’s gentle, affirming, and truly trauma-informed. Whether your pain is recent or decades old, you deserve care that honors your resilience and meets you where you are.
Reach out today to schedule your free consultation.
You are not broken. You are healing—and you don’t have to do it alone.