Trauma Therapy in Oakland, CA

You are not broken. You are protecting something sacred.

When Trauma Lives On Inside You

If you’ve lived through trauma—whether it happened once or unfolded over many years—you may feel like your nervous system never truly rests. You might feel stuck in cycles of anxiety, disconnection, emotional overwhelm, or shame.

Outwardly, you may seem composed—maybe even successful. But inwardly, you’re holding so much.

There might be a quiet fear that something is fundamentally wrong with you. You may carry deep exhaustion from holding yourself together, from trying to manage the storms inside without ever feeling like you can truly rest.

You are not weak. You are not broken. You have survived what was once too much to bear.

I’m Sara, a depth psychotherapist in Oakland, CA. I offer trauma therapy rooted in relational, psycho-spiritual work.

My approach is warm, intuitive, and grounded in deep listening to the whole of you—not just your symptoms, but your story, your body, and your soul.

Depth Psychotherapy for Trauma: A Whole-Person Approach

Trauma is not just something that happened in the past. It’s what lives on in the body and the psyche when there was no one there to help you make sense of what occurred.

You might be experiencing:

• Panic, irritability, or a sense of constant vigilance

• Chronic anxiety or emotional shutdown

• Insomnia or intrusive thoughts

• Dissociation or a sense of being numb or far away from yourself

• A persistent belief that something is wrong with you

In depth psychotherapy for trauma, we understand that trauma doesn’t just live in the mind—it imprints on the nervous system, in your relationships, in the stories you unconsciously carry. It affects how you love, grieve, protect, or disappear.

In therapy, we don’t just talk about what happened. We listen for what got buried—your feelings, your needs, your voice.

Complex Trauma and C-PTSD: The Impact of What Wasn’t

So many trauma stories begin in childhood—often in quiet, invisible ways. You may not recall a specific event, but the impact lingers: a feeling of not being safe, of being unseen, or emotionally abandoned.

This is often complex PTSD (C-PTSD). It arises in relational environments marked by neglect, emotional abuse, narcissistic parenting, or chronic instability.

You may struggle with:

• Shame and low self-worth

• Emotional flashbacks that arise without warning

• Perfectionism, people-pleasing, or emotional withdrawal

• Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe in relationships

• Deep fatigue from constantly holding it all together

These aren’t signs of a character flaw. They’re the wisdom of a nervous system that adapted to survive.

And because they are adaptations—not fixed traits—they can be transformed. This is where therapy comes in.

Jungian Trauma Therapy: Listening to the Soul

As a Jungian trauma therapist in Oakland, I don’t just see trauma as a set of symptoms to treat. I view it as something the soul is responding to.

In Jungian therapy, we understand that parts of the self are exiled in response to trauma—hidden away in what Jung called “the shadow.” But healing doesn’t come from forcing those parts out. It comes from making space for them, understanding them, and welcoming them home.

Jungian trauma therapy includes:

• Exploring dreams as messages from the unconscious

• Working with inner child wounds and unmet developmental needs

• Attending to images, archetypes, and metaphor when words fall short

• Honoring grief and anger as sacred, necessary parts of healing

• Making meaning from suffering—not as a bypass, but as a deepening

This is not surface work. It’s soul work. And it’s not about fixing you—it’s about becoming whole.

Trauma Therapy and the Wisdom of the Nervous System

When we work together, we’ll move at the pace of trust—never faster than your system is ready for. We’ll bring gentle attention to the protective strategies that helped you survive: hypervigilance, freeze, fawn, or dissociation.

Rather than pathologize these responses, we’ll honor them. They were your body’s best attempt at keeping you safe. But what kept you alive then may now be keeping you from fully living.

In depth therapy for trauma, you’ll learn to:

• Work with your nervous system instead of against it

• Identify and name survival responses with compassion

• Begin to feel safely embodied

• Release internalized shame and self-blame

• Develop greater emotional capacity and relational safety

This is not a quick-fix approach. It’s slow, deep work that meets you where you are—and helps you come home to yourself.

Dissociation: The Psyche’s Way of Keeping You Safe

If you often feel numb, foggy, or disconnected from your body or surroundings, you might be experiencing dissociation.

This is common among trauma survivors—especially those who experienced overwhelming or chronic childhood trauma.

Dissociation is not a weakness. It’s your psyche stepping in to help you survive the unbearable. It may have saved your life. But it can also keep you from feeling truly alive.

In therapy, we’ll create safety and build capacity for presence. With time and care, you’ll begin to gently reconnect with your body, your feelings, and the parts of you that have long been exiled.

Shame, Grief, and the Shadow

Many people come to trauma therapy thinking their feelings are the problem. But feelings like shame, grief, or rage are not flaws—they are vital signals that something was never allowed to be fully seen or felt.

Shame often says:

It was my fault. I should have been better. I must be too much.

From a Jungian perspective, shame lives in the shadow. It shows us the parts of ourselves that were disallowed, ignored, or punished. But shadow work isn’t about purging these parts. It’s about reclaiming them with compassion.

Trauma therapy helps you:

• Make room for grief—not just for what happened, but for what was never given

• Hold shame gently, understanding its protective function

• Begin to differentiate your worth from your wounds

• Bring light to what has been hidden in shadow

This work is not about self-improvement. It’s about wholeness.

What If I’m Afraid to Start Therapy?

If you’re scared to begin trauma therapy, you’re not alone. Many people worry:

• What if I fall apart?

• What if I remember things I’ve spent my life trying to forget?

• What if I’m too much—or not enough—for a therapist to handle?

These are tender, protective fears. And they make sense. Trauma wires us to anticipate more pain, more abandonment, more disconnection.

But therapy, at its best, is not about forcing anything. It’s about creating a space where the truth of your experience is held with care. Where you are met with empathy, patience, and real relationship.

There is no “right” way to heal. We move together at a pace that honors your capacity. Your body already knows how to protect you. Now it’s time to learn how to feel safe enough to soften.

Trauma Therapy in Oakland or Online Throughout California

The wounds of trauma do not define you. Beneath the layers of pain lies a self that is still intact, still worthy, and still capable of deep healing.

Healing trauma isn’t linear. It’s tender. Sacred. Often slow.

But you don’t have to do it alone.

If you’re seeking trauma therapy in Oakland or want to work together online anywhere in California, I welcome you. If you long for a space that honors the full complexity of your experience—not just the symptoms, but the soul beneath them—I’d be honored to walk with you.

Together, we’ll gently tend the parts of you that have waited so long to be seen, felt, and held.