Medical Trauma Therapy in Lynnwood, WA
Healing After Healthcare Experiences That Felt Overwhelming, Violating, or Unsafe
When Medical Care Leaves a Lasting Wound
For many people, medical experiences are supposed to bring relief or healing.
But for you, it may have done the opposite.
Perhaps you were dismissed, rushed, or not believed.
Maybe procedures happened without enough explanation, consent, or emotional support.
You may have felt powerless, exposed, frightened, or alone—while being told “this is normal” or “you’re fine.”
Medical trauma often happens inside systems meant to help, which can make it especially confusing, isolating, and angering.
Common Signs of Medical Trauma
Anxiety or panic around doctors, hospitals, needles, or medical settings
Feeling frozen, dissociated, or numb during appointments
Strong bodily reactions (tight chest, nausea, dizziness) when thinking about medical care
Avoidance of healthcare—even when you know it’s important
Difficulty trusting medical professionals or advocating for yourself
Shame, self-blame, or minimizing what happened (“others had it worse”)
Sleep disturbance, hypervigilance, or sudden emotional flooding
A sense that your body no longer feels safe or predictable
For some people, medical trauma overlaps with chronic illness, fertility struggles, pregnancy or birth trauma, surgeries, cancer treatment, childhood hospitalizations, or experiences of medical racism or bias.
What Healing From Medical Trauma Can Look Like
✅ Your body no longer going into survival mode around medical reminders
✅ Being able to attend appointments with more choice, grounding, and self-trust
✅ Releasing stored fear, helplessness, or shame held in the nervous system
✅ Reconnecting with your body as yours again
✅ Feeling more empowered to set boundaries and advocate for yourself
✅ Developing compassion for the parts of you that learned to protect you
At its core, healing medical trauma is about restoring a sense of safety, agency, and dignity—both internally and in the world.
How I Work With Medical Trauma
We focus on how your body and inner system learned to survive, and how to help it update now that the danger has passed.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Using Internal Family Systems, we explore the different “parts” of you that formed around medical experiences—such as parts that stay hyper-alert, avoid care, shut down, or push through at all costs.
Instead of judging these responses, we approach them with curiosity and respect.
These parts are not problems—they’re protectors that learned from real experiences.
IFS helps you:
Understand internal conflicts around healthcare decisions
Build compassion for protective survival strategies
Create internal safety before addressing traumatic memories
EMDR Therapy
With Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, we gently process medical memories that still feel “stuck” in the nervous system.
EMDR helps the brain and body:
Release the intensity of past medical experiences
Reduce emotional and physical reactivity to triggers
Integrate memories without reliving them
We move slowly and intentionally, with strong resourcing, so your system is never overwhelmed.
Somatic Experiencing
Medical trauma is often stored in the body, especially when you couldn’t move, speak, or stop what was happening.
Through Somatic Experiencing, we work directly with bodily sensations—tracking subtle signals of safety, tension, and release.
Somatic work helps:
Restore a sense of agency in your body
Complete interrupted fight-or-flight responses
Build capacity for regulation and presence
This approach is especially supportive if talk therapy alone hasn’t felt enough.
Virtual
Lynnwood WA
Hybrid
Start Medical Trauma Therapy in Lynnwood, WA
I offer medical trauma therapy for adults across Washington State via secure telehealth, as well as in person service in Lynnwood WA.