Trauma Therapy in Wheaton, IL
Tired Of Living On High Alert At All Times?
Patterns of anxiety, burnout, and relationship dysfunction are often the easiest to spot… and the most difficult to change on your own.
Many of the people I work with in therapy work so hard to manage their lives by staying constantly alert, regularly second-guessing their decisions, and trying every day not to be triggered or overwhelmed by reminders of past experiences. In many cases, my clients are not even fully aware that they are engaged in these patterns.
Over time, this creates a profound sense of disconnection from their true emotions, often leading to shame, inconsistent boundaries, and the feeling of being stuck in a frustrating cycle that can’t be broken.
If you’re living like this, then you probably approach life being the person who’s responsible for everything, including everyone else’s comfort and wellbeing, at all times. You may feel like you’re the only one keeping life together at the seams despite experiencing crushing stress and exhaustion on the inside. Even though you are desperate to rest, you can’t… maybe because you have never had self-care modeled to you or been given permission to put your needs first.
Your capacity for the big stuff is already too full, which is why the “little things” are feeling increasingly unmanageable. But in therapy, we can work together to uncover and resolve the emotional burdens in your life. Through the counseling process, you can overcome the stress and trauma at the root of the patterns keeping you stuck.
Early Experiences May Have Taught You That You Have To Work Hard In Order To Feel Safe
Often, the most high-functioning, ambitious, and empathetic clients that come through my doors are also the ones who experienced dysfunction early on, learning a need to keep the peace from a young age. In many cases, this dysfunction took the form of family instability, emotionally immature or unavailable caregivers, and childhood abuse or neglect.
These individuals usually take on immense responsibility at a young age and likely did not have their emotions validated in a way that made it acceptable to seek support or ask for help. They have been caught in the shame cycle for years, conditioned to berate themselves that they can’t do or be more.
So, what do some of these trauma patterns look like in adulthood? In most cases, some degree of people-pleasing, perfectionism, and over-productivity. For people socialized as female early in life, in particular, there is often a pressure to be agreeable, emotionally available, and “easy” to be around.
This pressure gets reinforced by the comparison culture brought on by social media, our exposure to a “hustle” mindset, and relationship advice that prioritizes being selfless and accommodating over healing and authenticity.
It’s normal to want to address surface-level symptoms—hyper-fixation, decision fatigue, and irritability—with surface-level solutions, but it takes focused work with a therapist to resolve the stress and trauma at the core of your struggles. Through trauma-informed, body-based therapy, you can make the connection between past experiences and current pains in a way that will ultimately lead to recovery.
Practical Resilience Psychological Services Is An Attachment-Informed, Trauma-Focused Therapy Practice
While I have experience working with clients who’ve survived some sort of single-incident trauma (an accident, assault, sudden death, for example), my therapy approach is especially effective for women, nonbinary individuals, and LGBTQIA+ clients struggling with the effects of complex, developmental, and attachment/relational traumas (often from childhood).
Along with the deeper exploration work we will do in counseling, I will teach you specific tools for grounding, identifying triggers, and tracking body-based stress cues with the goal of responding intentionally—instead of automatically. You will also learn more about setting boundaries, tolerating feelings of guilt and discomfort, and challenging beliefs driven by trauma.
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What To Expect
When you are living life in stress and anxiety mode, the first step of treatment is to slow down, identify what’s bothering you, and understand the protective strategies you feel inclined to use. In time, we will learn more about your attachment wounds and patterns so that you can have a better idea of why you’re experiencing trouble feeling relaxed and secure in your relationships.
Using this information, we will work collaboratively to develop your treatment goals and a plan for the future that is rooted in and driven by your values, rather than your trauma. And through this process, you can feel less overwhelmed, less disconnected, less insecure, and more in control of what is happening.
The Treatment Methods I Use
My work draws from attachment theory, relational therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and somatic counseling approaches that target trauma at the nervous system level. I also use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, which can be one of the most effective, evidence-based treatments for the effects of trauma and PTSD in some cases.
While this work can feel heavy at times, I always try to leave room for lightness, relief, joy, and even some humor, which are also meaningful parts of the healing process. Working through pain is an essential part of healing, but so is noting progress, celebrating wins, and making space for what feels good and life-giving.
Trauma has taken your sense of choice and agency away, but therapy can help you feel more in control of where your life is headed. As you build your skill set and strengthen your self-trust in this process, you can nurture feelings of safety and security within.
Common Questions Clients Have When Considering Trauma Therapy…
What if my traumas aren’t “bad” enough to warrant counseling?
You do not have to be in crisis in order for your struggles to be worthy of attention. No matter the cause, if you are feeling stuck, anxious, or overwhelmed, you deserve support.
Even if you are keeping it together on the outside, your pain still matters, and I am here to help you process it.
I’ve tried trauma therapy before. How will your approach be different?
I understand how discouraging it can be when therapy offers insight but not real change. If the work you do in counseling only stays at the level of practical understanding—rather than doing the deeper work of addressing the patterns driving the symptoms—you may not get a full picture of your automatic trauma responses and protective strategies in therapy.
As a therapist using attachment-specific, trauma-focused approaches, I want to help you move beyond insight alone by combining deeper healing with concrete tools that support lasting change in your life and relationships. And because I am trained in EMDR, I offer a gentle, nonverbal therapy approach that can neutralize core trauma in a relatively short period of time.
What if I’m not ready to talk about some of my trauma(s) with a therapist?
A trauma-focused approach means that we will move at your pace and not dive into your experiences all at once. It’s important that the therapy process feels safe, manageable, and collaborative throughout.
You do not have to be ready to explore everything on day one in order to begin. Once support, stability, and skills have been meaningfully established through the therapeutic relationship, we can begin to process some of the deeper wounds together.
Balance Comes From Making Intentional Choices—Not Automatic Ones
Dr. Petya Randelova offers trauma-focused therapy that combines behavioral approaches, grounding techniques, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help clients slow down, relax, and feel more secure in themselves. For more information, schedule a consultation or contact me.
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